Peru: Second Congress for Residential Care Centres

On the 1st and 2nd of March, the Second International Congress for Residential Care Centers took place in Peru. It revolved around the expected results of the 22nd issue of the National Plan of Action for Children 2012 – 2021: “Children and adolescents who join a family”. The meeting was organised by Claudia León, Director of Buckner Peru and member of the RELAF Latin American Consultative Council, and by the Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations. 

Over 300 people attended the Congress, including Marisol Espinosa, Vice-president of the country. RELAF was represented by Daniel Moreira and Leticia Rodríguez, from the Latin American Consultative Council.

During the first day, persons from different countries of the region made presentations (Daniel Moreira, Leticia Rodríguez, Beatriz Becerra, Gabriela Schreiner and Alejandro Cusianovich) and panels were held with the participation of representatives from UNICEF, the Public Ministry, the Ombudsman’s Office, INABIF and the civil society. On the second day, working roundtables were held to discuss issues such as foster care, family reintegration, intervention methodologies, temporality of institutionalisation and interinstitutional agreements. Within this framework, the participants debated, exchanged their opinions and expressed proposals that were heard by the authorities, who made several commitments.

The Congress provided an important opportunity to debate and reflect on children, family and alternative care. Among the topics discussed and that should be worked on in the short term were the importance of standards for foster care as a protective measure, the creation of more foster care programmes, the modification of the Law on Adoption (currently in progress), the promptness in the deadlines for the adoption, the adoption of older children, and the creation of specialised technical teams to work with both foster families and families of origin.

The Congress showed the increasingly growing interest in the care of children and made it possible to get to know the issues to be improved.

To know more about this and other initiatives by Buckner Peru, please visit http://www.bucknerperu.org/