THE BEGINNINGS OF A FRUITFUL TECHNICAL COOPERATION

Matilde Luna, Director of RELAF, and Irene Salvo Agoglia, permanent link of the working group, traveled to Ecuador to meet with the focal points of RELAF's work in Ecuador, UNICEF Ecuador and authorities and technical teams from the Ecuadorian government, as part of the agenda that sees the beginning of our technical cooperation with that country, which started in late 2015.

On March 7th and 8th, fundamental work meetings were held with UNICEF Ecuador ,the technical team of the Secretariat on Special Protection from MIES - Ministry of Economic and Social Inclusion - Ecuador, and Margarita Velasco, Director of the Social Observatory Ecuador, which is a central step in the joint creation of a public policy to guarantee the right to family and community life for the children and adolescents of Ecuador, as well as providing a clear signal of the will and commitment of the Ecuadorian government in this matter.

Moving on with the agenda scheduled to start this cooperation, on March 10th, RELAF and UNICEF Ecuador promoted the First Inter-sectoral Meeting: "Steps towards the creation of a network for the right to family and community life in Ecuador." There, regional experiences in the creation of inter-sectoral networks for the Right to Family and Community Life were shared in order to promote reflection, dialogue and exchange among key stakeholders from the government, civil society and academics. The meeting participants discussed the “possibility” conditions within the local context to promote the establishment of a network in Ecuador, highlighting a huge capacity for dialogue, compromise and collaboration towards this joint project.

These, as well as new actions committed to be developed  throughout this year in cooperation, represent a key opportunity to influence and provide technical assistance in the creation of a state policy to help ensure this fundamental right.