ANNUAL REPORT TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY - 2003

THE IIN'S PROGRAMS

In accordance with the 2000-2004 Strategic Plan, the IIN is structured around the following Programs:

Program for the Integral Promotion of Children's Rights (PRODER)

PRODER’s objectives are:

To design, implement and evaluate Prototypes of Targeted Public Policies on specific and emerging problems affecting children and adolescents, such as Street Children, Child Labor, Sexual Exploitation, Conflict with the Law, Different Abilities, Armed Conflicts, Adoption, etc.;

To train those working in the areas addressed by the Prototype, at different levels and using attendance-based and distance methods. This training is aimed at professionals, planners and policy-makers, as well as Child Program managers and operators;

To foster horizontal cooperation in the region in the different areas covered by the Program;

To provide technical and methodological cooperation through the IIN’s products and services, working toward participatory education and community mobilization.

Inter-American Child and Family Information Program (PIINFA)

PIINFA’s objectives are:

To promote a culture of information-based management;

To develop instruments for promoting and monitoring Children’s Rights;

To collect and distribute information on Children’s Rights.

The Program’s governing principles aim to recover the Region’s own identity, promote horizontal cooperation between countries, democratize the use of information, decentralize access to knowledge, and use information to build bridges between government and civil society.

PIINFA’s strategy involves product development, training and technical assistance – all of which guarantee the sustainability of the proposals and the continuous monitoring and evaluation of all work undertaken.

The Program has promoted and created National Information Centers and Child Information Systems. It has even developed its own software, as in the case of the Child Information System (SIPI), which is already installed in several countries.

PIINFA provides technical assistance on the use of information for the design of child policies.

It is responsible for the development and maintenance of a Child Information Network (RIIN), with 79 Centers in 18 countries.

PIINFA develops systems for monitoring Children’s Rights, coordinates the Virtual Link of the IIN’s governing organs, and provides Regional Information Service over the Internet, with a Database (OPD) of Organizations (containing 11,500 organizations), Projects (containing 2,000 regional projects) and Documents (containing 80,000 documents).

It also administers a Legal Database (BADAJ), an Informative Journal, the Dr. Luis Morquio Library (which may be accessed both in person and remotely), and the IIN’s website.

PIINFA’s most recent products include: the development of a series of Videos on the Rights of the Child and related issues, which are being widely broadcast in the Americas and the Caribbean; a pilot project on the participation of adolescents in the Media; and an innovative Site for Coordination of Activities for Children and Adolescents, which handles specific situations in which the rights of children and adolescents are violated, involving more than one country.

Legal Program (PROJUR)

PROJUR's objectives are:

To provide technical assistance in the field of Child-related Legislation in order to strengthen the integral protection of children, adolescents and the family;

To develop and implement Legal Prototypes to address risk areas affecting children and adolescents; to date, four of these Prototypes have been developed, on the following subjects:

Child Labor;

Sexual Exploitation;

Disability;

Drug Abuse Prevention;

To promote and assist in the ratification of international laws to strengthen legal protection in the region;

To conduct comparative and applied studies on the Convention on the Rights of the Child;

To provide continuous technical updates to the Legal Database, as well as distance and attendance-based training;

To assist the Office of the Director General in the fulfillment of Directing Council and OAS mandates in specific areas, such as the international abduction of children by one of their parents and other issues requiring the coordination of experts.