The 2000-2004 Strategic Plan defined a Communications Area based on four
pillars: Institutional Documentation, National and International Media,
Promotional Activities, and Campaigns for Children’s Rights in the
Americas. In this framework and with external consultation, the IIN is
prepared to move toward defining an Institutional Communications Policy.
A new esthetic, which has
already been implemented, incorporates the image of children from a
gender perspective, reaffirming the main targets of the IIN’s work:
girls and boys. Consequently and by extension, all Institutional
Documents were totally renewed to incorporate this esthetic.
The continued publication
of the Executive Letter in 2003 has strengthened communication with
Directing Council Delegates, Missions of OAS
Member States and senior officials at the OAS General Secretariat, keeping them informed of the IIN’s political and
technical activities. Furthermore, the IIN’s virtual newsletters have
reported the various activities and events carried out within the
technical programs, as well as the negotiations in which the Office of
the Director General has been engaged.
Work has continued on the
series of Videos on Children’s Rights, where child affairs specialists
cooperate with creative professionals and artists to make an impact on
the public from the perspective of children’s rights. More and more,
these videos are being broadcast on a mass scale. A video on the
Democratic Charter, created as part of an agreement with the UPD in the
year 2003, will now begin to be broadcast. Furthermore, two new
additions to the IIN’s series of Illustrated Books are currently in
production.
Through its website, the
IIN continues to grow in its role as a digital bridge between people
working for the Children and Adolescents of the Americas, with a growing
number of page hits and consultations.
Finally, in the year 2003
the Communications Area led an activity for adolescent and youth media
participation, which consisted of a weekly radio program (PINTÓ RADIO!!
ACT OIR!!). In its development cycle, the project was evaluated as
highly positive and replicable; its final evaluation, with contributions
by outside observers, will be available soon.
In
the year 2003, as part of the policy implemented by the Office
of the Director General of the IIN aimed at improving the
services provided by the Administration Area, improvements were made to
the management of this area, based on a close relationship with, and
support provided by, the Financial Services Department of the OAS in
Washington, contributing toward a modern, transparent method of
management. All of the Administration Area’s services and activities
were carried out in optimal conditions of cost/benefit between the
Area’s staff and the results achieved. The Administration Area is
currently made up of two full-time people in Montevideo and one
part-time person in Washington who follows up on the paperwork of the
IIN. This improvement in management is reflected in the following
results:
-
Operational
resources from the Regular Fund as well as Specific Funds, totaling
USD 572,154, were more efficiently and effectively managed.
-
646
requisitions were handled in the OASES system, for disbursements of
diverse types, constituting a real service to the Office of the
Director General and the technical Programs receiving all necessary
support from the Administration Area.
-
72
Performance Contracts (CPRs) were signed with contractors of 13
different nationalities.
-
Progress
was made in the conversion and consolidation of 29 accounts
containing specific IIN funds in the OASES system; this process is
expected to be complete in February 2004.
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Logistical
and administrative support was provided by the National Offices of
the General Secretariat of the OAS in Bolivia, the Dominican
Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and
Peru, allowing the IIN’s Programs to smoothly carry out various
events and activities.
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In
compliance with the Office of the General Inspector, a full update
of the IIN’s Physical Inventory was taken, for 562 fixed assets.
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Various
accounting reports were prepared for donors of Specific Funds as
part of Agreements signed with the IIN.
-
Support
was provided to the Office of the Director
General in the preparation of Reports on budgetary, financial
and administrative matters for the political entities of the IIN and
the OAS.
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Full
building renovations, as well as subcontracts with professionals and
service providers, were coordinated.
Thanks
to its connection with the OASES system, we are certain that, within the
new Strategic Plan, the Administration Area will be in a position to
adapt quickly to all needs that arise from increased demand for
services.
