Technical cooperation in Uruguay

By Daniel Moreira and Judith Aude, members of RELAF’s Latin American Consultative Council.

To close the year 2010, we had the visit of Matilde Luna on behalf of RELAF in November. The business meeting with Matilde Luna was organised by two members of the RELAF Latin American Consultative Council, Daniel Moreira and Judith Aude, with the support of the Board of Directors of Instituto del Niño y Adolescente del Uruguay- INAU (the Institute of the Child and Adolescent of Uruguay).

 

 

 

 

 

 

A working meeting was carried out with the Board of Directors of INAU. Javier Salsamendi, the president of the body, and Directors Jorge Ferrando and Dardo Rodríguez were present. Daniel Moreira and Judith Aude and members of the advisory teams of the Board participated in the meeting as well.

This meeting was motivated by the political and institutional context of promotion of the practices of deinstitutionalisation. Therefore, during the meeting in Montevideo, the policies of protection outlined by the UN Guidelines were discussed. Matilde contributed with her vision of the Latin American context as well as with the advances and challenges that the region is currently facing. On the other side, we highlight the presence of Jorge Ferrando on behalf of the government in the RELAF Seminar in Foz do Iguaçu, where he showed great interest in making the government join RELAF’s regional task.

Uruguay faces a challenge set out by the Law 18590 of 2009, which establishes the maximum period of time for the stay of children in institutional care. Alternatives that focus on the protection of the right to community- and family-based care are being discussed. In this same line, the measures of foster care and adoption have a relevant position in the stand of the Board of Directors of the body in charge of childhood public policies in the country. The ways to recruit families are considered a subject that must be deepened.

The cultural aspects and ideas concerning families and alternative care are of worry to INAU and have to be taken into account and discussed at an institutional level and within the civil society. Matilde showed the advances in this sense: the Kit to recruit foster families and the Friendly Versions of the UN Guidelines, both suitable materials to be used in this process. The meeting was very productive, and the door was left open for the possibility of new exchanges and contributions to these subjects from the part of RELAF. Besides, the president of INAU expressed the Institute’s interest in bolstering social mobilisation via the promotion of voluntary work from the public policy, associating voluntary work with foster care.

In the afternoon, the first meeting for the establishment of the local Network for the Right to community and family life was carried out. This initiative came up based on the call of Judith Aude and Daniel Moreira as members of the RELAF Latin American Consultative Council. The meeting had the support of SOS Children’s Villages, which provided a very cozy office and the necessary devices to carry out the meeting. Having Matilde Luna’s presence was very important for this first instance.

Organisations of the civil society that have developed innovative proposals with relation to the protection of the right to community- and family-based care were called to participate in this instance. Each one of them had the opportunity to present their proposals and discuss them with the other entities.

Matilde was in charge of closing the meeting. She highlighted the importance of the movements developed in Uruguay as well as the relevance of the network as a tool to promote and articulate good practices for children and adolescents.

RELAF is committed to contribute to this process of advance in the protection of the rights through which Uruguay is going.