ACTIVITIES IN GUATEMALA

Workshop Seminar on "Alternatives of protection for vulnerated Childhood and Adolescence" and work meetings.

In the framework of the cooperation that the RELAF Project Leader has been carrying out with different Guatemalan actors since 2006, the work agenda of activities in Guatemala City, which included a Seminar and several meetings with key actors who work to protect children’s rights, was fulfilled. The agenda was set by the UNICEF local office, and Justo Solórzano and Dora Alicia Muñoz were the persons of reference from the international office.

On September 9 and 10, a Training Workshop was carried out aimed at governmental organizations (Secretariat of Social Welfare, National Adoptions Council, Federal Attorney’s Office, and Courts) and non-governmental organisations (Movimiento Social, Refugio de la Niñez, SOS Children’s Villages, Buckner, el Refugio de la Niñez, IPS). More than 40 people took part in the activity: psychologists and employees of the courts and judges from the capital and the provinces, as well as psychologists and social workers of the governmental organisations and NGOs mentioned above. The speakers were Christina Baglietto, Raquel Morales, Jessica Zabala and Matilde Luna.

The urgent need to have local resources for the protection of children without parental care was expressed. Among the dilemmas or obstacles for the implementation of foster care in Guatemala, the participants highlighted the following:

• There are difficulties in finding substitute families (this is how foster families are named in Guatemala); the government programme is inadequate.

• There is a high number of institutionalised children, although the exact number is unknown. The participants said institutionalisation is the main option they had.

• They described the long stays and the regular-to-bad conditions of institutionalised children.

• They recognised the good work of some institutions, such as SOS Children’s Villages.

• They said they found difficulties to achieve the transitory condition of substitute families programmes when this is a possibility.

• They made many questions about the children’s time of stay, the payment for the families, the trainings, and so on. These questions rose from the presentation of Latin American experiences.

• They pointed out that special attention must be paid to distinguish foster care situations that can lead to adoption in order to differentiate between the two practices.

After the Seminar an agenda of meetings on the ground with technicians and authorities of governmental organizations was fulfilled and meetings with key actors were also carried out. The RELAF Project Leader held meetings with the Secretary of Social Welfare, Lic. Silvia Palomo, the Director of the Substitute Families Programme of the Secretariat, Víctor Reyes, and the directors of the organizations Aso, Seprodi, DEMOS and Buckner: Antonio Coolen, Edgar Ramírez, Anabella Rivera and Leslie Chase, respectively. The meeting with Alejandra Vázquez, distinguished member of RELAF and an activist for the rights of Guatemalan children was also very meaningful.

A brief evaluation, taking into account the situation described in this article: Guatemalan people and the international community must continue to join efforts in order to protect and restore the rights of Guatemalan children. We found technicians with a good academic background in this country who are committed to the proper development of children and who need support to fulfil their vocation and ethical commitment to their fellow countrymen.