Technical cooperation moves forward

Within the framework of technical cooperation that RELAF has been undertaking along with UNICEF México, a project that has set as one of its goals the creation of pilot programs, three training sessions were given on alternative foster care with the Mexico City DIF (National System for Integral Family Development) with the objective of starting to train the technical teams on the concepts and methodologies for the implementation of foster care programmes.

These working sessions were carried out with the technical team of Mexico City DIF, and mainly focused on defining a profile of the population to which the agency provides assistance. A review was done of the workflow needed for working with children and adolescents without parental care, in order to understand the processes and actions already in place, as well as those that should be put into use to guarantee the right to family and community life for all children.

RELAF participated in the workshops promoted by the Buró Estratégico de Expertos de Ciudad de México (Strategic Bureau of Experts of Mexico City) along with the DIF. The workshops' topics were the implementation of the Law on Alternative Care and the Standards for the Monitoring of the Casas de Asistencia Social (CAS, Welfare Centers).

The authorities, representatives, and staff from the CAS talked about the procedures carried out to ensure and strengthen the protection of children and adolescents. In this session, Gaudencio Rodriguez, Advisor for the State of Guanajuato DIF talked about his experience as a consultant for the production of the protocol for the Assistance of Children and Adolescents, which promotes the coordination of different sectors of the population.

In July, Matilde Luna (Expert and Director of RELAF), Carolina Bascuñán and Laura Martínez (the Project’s Thematic Consultants), travelled to Mexico, where they kept an intense work agenda, consisting mainly of meetings and training sessions.

On July 20, a workshop was held for the technical team of DIF Mexico City and for the multidisciplinary team of the Directorate of Protection Measures and Restition of Children's Rights of the Federal Attorney's Office for the Protecion of Children of the National DIF.The workshop focused on the main aspects to consider when implementing a pilot foster care programme. The importance of these pilot programmes within the process of deinstitutionalisation was stressed, and the guidelines and standards necessary to plan a pilot programme were revised. The need to work alognside the children in these processes was also stressed.

The pilot programme developed by the National Office is aimed at unaccompanied migrant children, being the first programme undertaken by the newly appointed Attorney General. The multidisciplinary team, along with the representatives from RELAF and UNICEF, discussed the areas of opportunity and support that are required to ensure a model that is not only new to the country, but that serves a highly vulnerable population.

Regarding the work meetings held with UNICEF Mexico, on one hand Matilde Luna and Dora Giusti, UNICEF Chief Protection Officer for Mexico, met with Attorney Nelly Montealegre Díaz. This meeting aimed at providing technical advice to help the different States in the implementation of foster care programmes within the framework of alternative care, as established by the law. Overall, there was an agreement to create training tools and supporting materials to disseminate these models.

On the other hand, at a meeting convened by UNICEF Mexico, Matilde Luna and the thematic consultants from RELAF met with government officials and representatives of the Mexican civil society. At the meeting, the strengthening of the protection systems was discussed, both in relation to the comprehensive protection of children as well as to the special protection in the case of violations of rights. In this context, the promotion of actions to enhance comprehensive policies for children and adolescents without parental care and the implementation of alternative care programmes for them were discussed.

Closing the agenda, RELAF and UNICEF met with the director of REDIM, Juan Martín Pérez García, in order to evaluate and involve the Mexican network for children's rights in the process.

We will continue to inform you on the latest developments regarding this technical cooperation in future newsletters.