INFORMATION AND THE REGION

Among the permanent and most dynamic changes taking place in today’s world, it is possible to observe in the region the propagation of liberal democracies, a growing and determinant role of market forces, a permanent and rapid transformation of production and work, an accelerated and deep technological change, and a revolution in the media and consumption. A progress in human development, despite the permanence and deepening in some cases of poverty, unemployment, professional instability, etc., is also evident. 

In this scenario, childhood, the stage of life where in general the forms of insertion and participation of future men into society are defined, is the one most at risk and impacted upon. 

The Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted in 1989, embodies an ensemble of rights related to survival, protection and participation of children. The Convention constitutes an +ethical, political and legal framework involving the whole society in the concretion of opportunities, determining the personal and social development of its members at the early stages in the individual’s life. 

Along with development and the situation of the child, some processes are emerging -such as information and communication- which contribute to observing, disrupting, and changing the living conditions of children in the region. Despite of the fact that at the communication level significant changes have happened (incidence of the media, cable television, Internet), the production and use of information for decision-making is not explicitly recognized as a key factor within the information process, at least by those addressing child-related issues. We may mention various examples surrounding this concept: the production of basic information related to protection, for example, has not undergone global changes insofar as to permit a conceptual, permanent and systematic approach to enable monitoring and assessment of the situation of child protection in the region. 

The PIINFA promotes the use of instruments that make possible to detect experiences and research in the region to contribute to their dissemination among the various spheres of action in favor of children. The Program encourages the development of tools to generate basic information, based on the concepts emerging from the Convention on the Rights of the Child.