RELAF in Mexico: an agenda full of activities within the framework of technical cooperation and assistance

Within the framework of technical cooperation and assistance, RELAF was in Mexico in order to participate in different activities: along with local key actors, it developed implementation workshops on the friendly versions of the Guidelines, participated in meetings, and was present in a Congress and in an International Seminar. Here you can read about the activities in Guanajuato and Guadalajara, locally organised by RELAF’s Latin American Council members Laura Martínez de la Mora (Guanajuato) and Gloria Lascano (Guadalajara).

Activities in Guanajuato.

RELAF successfully cooperated with the call of the Guanajuato Attorney’s Office for Human Rights, which hosts the “Roundtable of Childhood Experts”, made up of key persons in the field of institutionalised childhood and its alternatives.  Within this framework, several actions were completed between August 13 and 17. First of all, participants revised the agenda to be developed as well as the documents to consider during this week, which would close with the First National Congress “Mi derecho a la convivencia familiar y comunitaria” (My Right to Community and Family Life). These would be the themes to debate in the worktables as well as the inaugural document of the Constitution of the Mexican Network for the Right to Community and Family Life. Workshops for the application of the friendly versions of the Guidelines with children, adolescents, and operators also took place in Guanajuato.

Organisations that convened the activities along with the Procuraduría de Derechos Humanos and RELAF: Villa Infantil of Irapuato; Casa Cuna of Irapuato; Children’s Shelter Dolores Avellana; Tiempo Nuevo of Guadalajara; Mejores familias; Amigo Daniel and Hogar del Pobre AC. 

Workshops for the Application of the Friendly Versions of the Guidelines

In the Attorney’s Office for Human Rights, located in Irapuato, we carried out workshops for children and adolescents using the Friendly Version of the Guidelines produced by RELAF in cooperation with UNICEF. The first workshop included the participation of 23 children between 8 and 12 years of age who actively took part in games and exchanged knowledge about their rights. Even though the participants expressed that they weren't familiar with the existence of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, they were able to identify their rights without difficulty and explain them in their own words.

They dialogued, debated, and created drawings about their rights. The second workshop, designed for 20 adolescents, also revolved around the discussion and reflection on their rights and their relation with laws and current guidelines. In this case, the adolescents identified the need to improve the fulfilment of their rights in institutional settings, describing practices that must be revised. In particular, they are worried about the long stays in institutions, as well as the weaknesses in working with their families of origin.

In Guanajuato, two other workshops for adults took place, specifically for people who work with or are responsible for children and adolescents without parental care or at risk of losing it, using the Friendly Version for operators. In these cases, Matilde Luna was in charge of the coordination, with the assistance of Federico Kapustiansky. Among the participants were the Guanajuato Attorney for Human Rights and his team, representatives of the Legislative Power and of the “Roundtable of Childhood Experts”, professionals of the state’s DIF and of the municipal DIF (the organisations dedicated to the integral development of families), personnel from Save the Children and from SOS Children’s Villages, among others, and operators of communal homes, and security agents. After a presentation about the formation, objective and principles of the Guidelines, an activity took place where participants were required to contrast certain articles of the friendly versions with their own field experience. This produced rich debates and opportunities to learn about the situation of children in alternative care, their families and communities of origin, and the role institutional settings play in these circumstances. Several important obstacles to the fulfillment of rights were recognized: the existence of large scale institutions, the poor legal framework, and the lack of resources and strategies to work with families of origin, among others.

First National Congress “My Right to Community and Family Life”

The First National Congress, led by the Attorney’s Office for the Rights of Children and by the “Roundtable of Childhood Experts, took place in Guanajuato’s Convention Centre. Over 730 people from different places and fields in Mexico participated in the event. During the first day of work, experts gave a series of presentations that revealed the damage that unjustified and unnecessary institutionalisation causes in children. Later, workshops were carried out with a great introduction, in order to explore the announced themes more deeply: serious violations of rights in institutions; the normative framework and public policies; adolescents in institutions; institutionalisation and its relation to other practices that aim to fulfil the right to a family; and the mobilisation and articulation of key actors. As a result of these discussion tables, a declaration was created that was read and signed by all of the attendees at the end of the event. The following day was focused on children’s and families’ testimonies in relation to institutionalisation and adoption and on making public the changes that are being generated in the region. In conclusion, it was recognised that the presentation of the Mexican Network for the Right to Community and Family Life and a document about the situation and the suggestions issued at the event are important tools for the adaptation and eradication of practices that violate rights in this country.

Activities in Guadalajara

RELAF participated in the organization of the International Seminar “Childhood Deprived of Parental Care: from the Rights to the Facts” that took place on August 21 in Guadalajara, in the state of Jalisco. The meeting focused on contributing to the improvement of the situation of children without parental care living in the city’s institutions. Besides this, there were meetings with experts in the field of institutionalised children and adolescents, workshops for the application of the friendly versions of the Guidelines and expositions in three conferences.

Workshops for the Application of the Friendly Versions of the Guidelines

In the headquarters of Hogar Cabanas (an institution that houses 400 children), a workshop took place with 14 children between the ages of 7 and 12 years, coming from 8 institutions in the state of Jalisco. The proposed dynamic was centered on being able to reflect about the knowledge the adolescents had about their rights through playful activities. In this context, they discussed the existing legal frameworks as well as their rights. Just like in other workshops, using the friendly versions of the Guidelines allowed them to reflect and share their experiences. Once again, attention was brought to the various practices in this country that should be adapted or eradicated: the damaging long stays in institutions, the necessity to create more opportunities to listen to children, and the recognition that the use of mistreatment and violence as a practice to discipline children must be eradicated.

In the previously mentioned Hogar Cabanas, we held the workshop for the staff and directors from different institutions, educators, and professionals. The participants demonstrated a great interest in getting to know the Guidelines through the Friendly Version and recognised the necessity to hold spaces for reflection and training on a permanent basis. The group of over 20 operators was able to acknowledge its strengths and weaknesses, the latter a result of the fact that the focus of the job is still not centered on the protection of children’s rights. They specifically recognised the difficulties they find when working with the families of origin because of the contaminating influence of the “penalising vision” of families in situations of vulnerability. Everyone concluded in the agreement that it is important to revise their practices, adhering to the compromise to work on improving the daily care provided to the children.

Expert Meetings

In Guadalajara, we carried out two roundtables of reflection and discussion with actors who are crucial in the protection of the rights of institutionalised children. These meetings were convened by Gloria Lascano, a professional from the Human Rights Secretariat and member of RELAF’s Latin American Council, and took place in the headquarters of the Coordinadora para el Desarrollo y Proteccion para niños y adolescentes (Coordinator Body for the Development and Protection of Children). Among the participants were representatives from the Legislative Branch, the city’s DIF, the General Attorney’s Office, the General Attorney’s Office for Justice, the presidency of DIF Jalisco, the Attorney for Human Rights, the Instituto Jalisciense de Asistencia Social (Jalisco’s Institute of Welfare), the Secretariat of Social Development, and NGOs, as well as representatives from residential care facilities, and UNICEF. In this framework, they were able to reflect upon the difficulties in modifying existing practices in favour of guaranteeing family and community life for children, identifying actions and beliefs which have become routine in the daily action of the protection system.

International Seminar “Childhood deprived of Parental Care”

The Universidad Jesuita de Guadalajara (ITESO) was chosen as the space for the International Seminar “Childhood deprived of Parental Care”, organized by the Secretariat of Human Development through the Coordinator Body for the Development and Protection of Children and Adolescents and the Instituto Jaliscience de Asistencia Social (Jalisco’s Institute of Welfare), with support from RELAF. This meeting had more than 150 participants from different fields, and was centered in getting to know the seriously problematic situation in which children and adolescents in Jalisco and all of Latin America are living, using the Latin American Document and focusing especially on the situation in Mexico. UNICEF Mexico, the Red por los Derechos de la Infancia en México (Mexican Network for Children’s Rights), university teachers, and the Programa Infancia de la UAM Xochimilco (Childhood Programme of UAM Xochimilco) all participated in the expositions. RELAF gave a conference about the Guidelines as a tool for the guidance of the practices for the protection of children’s rights. The conference closed with an exposition called “Institutionalisation from the Perspective of Children and Adolescents.”

Guanajuato and Guadalajara: some general conclusions

Many activities took place in Mexico with positive results. The workshops of application of the friendly versions were enriching experiences of reflection and learning, just like the meetings with experts. For RELAF, it is necessary to recognize and strengthen the institutions in this great country that make a serious effort to improve and modify their initiatives, keeping the CRC and the Guidelines as both objectives and support systems.

The National Congress in Guanajuato, for its part, mobilised a great number of people and exposed the concerns regarding institutionalisation. In this framework, individuals and institutions found themselves with new clear objectives to change. The International Seminar of Jalisco brought a great deal of quality to the debate, identifying the debt with institutionalised children. There are still large scale institutions that do not have the necessary state regulation and supervision, such as one institution within the country (among others) which houses more than 2000 children. In addition to these serious violations, the reference is the emblematic cases of the “Casitas del Sur” institution, from which 11 children have “disappeared” since 2009.
RELAF’s desire and obligation is that this be a milestone for the joint work between all those who find themselves involved in this issue. This goal, apart from a few mobilised actors who have been in contact with RELAF for a few years, is just beginning to actively and productively come together. These spaces of reflection and training are indispensable in order to keep moving forward with the conviction and ethical belief that everyone should have an equal opportunity to a dignified life.

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