- In Latin America and the Caribbean there are 193 million girls, boys and adolescents, 72 million live in extreme poverty
- The reality of childhood and adolescence in Latin America needs more support from the International Community
- The Coalitions carry out good practices in favor of human rights with the support of the development cooperation of the European Union
As part of the #TejiendoRedesInfancia project, representatives of the REDLAMYC National Coalitions in Latin America and the Caribbean participated in the Partnership Forum 2018, in Brussels, Belgium. The event was organized by the European Commission to share prospective scenarios and good practices between regional networks and global platforms of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs).
Juan Martín Pérez García, Executive Secretary, pointed out that this space for strategic articulation favors bringing the Latin American reality closer to the European authorities, and showing innovative practices of resilience in favor of girls, boys and adolescents in societies with high levels of violence, to guarantee their human rights. He commented that the different spaces and political dialogues @REDLAMYC invited us to turn our gaze on the serious situation of children in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Data from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF LAC, 2018) indicate that in Latin America and the Caribbean 24,500 adolescents between 10 and 19 years of age die every year and 1 in 2 girls and boys under 15 years of age old is subjected to corporal punishment at home.
Ivón Arroyo, Vice President of the National Initiative Group for Children's Rights (GIN, Peru) said that it was an important experience that allowed the European Union to get the message that civil society organizations are its best allies so that children governments - national, state and local authorities - can implement changes in each of the countries of the region in favor of the rights of girls, boys and adolescents.
Alicia Vargas who attended on behalf of REDIM Network for the Rights of the Child in Mexico; He specified that this meeting is a reminder of the importance of strengthening, ensuring and consolidating REDLAMYC under a long-range vision to generate strategic alliances and articulation with other international organizations and groups.
Marcia Carvalho, from the DCA Forum in Brazil pointed out that this experience was an opportunity to learn about the European agenda 2020-2026 and an opportunity to rethink the importance of REDLAMYC discussing issues of global concern - such as migration, refugees, equality of gender, among others.
Nicky Bravo, Coordinator of the Social Movement for Children and Adolescents in Ecuador, considered an advance that in the resilience panel he was invited as a panelist, representing Latin America; where he had the opportunity to speak about the resilience generated by the participation experiences of girls, boys and adolescents.
Delia del Gatto, who attended the event on behalf of the Chilean Forum for the Rights of the Child, considered the articulation of REDLAMYC with the international civil society organizations (CSOs) that met at the forum to be essential to strengthen the presence of the Latin American region that is a bit absent.
The #TejiendoRedesInfancia project that began in 2016, is coordinated by REDLAMYC Latin American and Caribbean Network for the defense of the rights of children and adolescents and co-financed by the European Union, the Swedish Association for International Development Cooperation (ASDI, for its acronym in English) and Save the Children.
