PROLOGUE

 

Over the last four years, the execution of the IIN’s 2000-2004 Strategic Plan – approved by its Directing Council and endorsed by the General Assembly of the OAS, in the necessary reconciliation of its fundamental orientations with the different national realities, available resources and possible international cooperation links with the Public Sector as well as Civil Society – has demonstrated the validity of the path taken.

The commitment undertaken in the promotion of child and adolescent issues in Political Fora – supporting processes of Planning National Child Systems in the Region; preparing and proposing systemic tools for this purpose; associating and processing the available information in order to make possible the effective transfer of knowledge; technically and academically training participants in child-related areas – has encountered no resistance or blocks, but rather has been met with unstoppable demand which already represents an exciting and enthusiastic, but also very real, challenge to our capacity for response.

From our point of view, the reality of our children and adolescents in the region has not improved; in fact, we might even say that it has worsened. However, never before have we had such a wealth of technical and intellectual tools to undertake the necessary, urgent changes to transform reality. This is a paradox that should no longer compel us to reflect, but rather to act.

Political will can be conquered; material and human resources can be rationalized and coordinated; and practical interventions in the territories of reality must attain the forcefulness and effectiveness required by the ethical dimension of the new millennium.

The XIX Pan American Child Congress, which we are currently preparing and which will be held this year in Mexico City, will be an invaluable opportunity for deeper reflection on Child, Adolescent and Family Issues, and to redouble efforts in the concrete actions of our inter-American community.

 

Lic. Alejandro Bonasso

DIRECTOR GENERAL