OAS Assistant Secretary General calls on Member States to fight for children and adolescents live in peace.

 During the opening of the XXI Pan American Congress of children and adolescents, the Deputy Secretary General of the OAS, Ambassador Albert Ramdin, called authorities of all States membros of the Organization of American States (OAS) will not forget the goal this event: “Building peace environments across America”

“Ladies and gentlemen, there is no doubt in my mind that the central focus of this meeting: Building Environments of Peace for our Children, must be of the utmost priority for all of those present here today.  I am certain that this event, as promoted by Brazil, will act as a catalyst through which the Inter American Children’s Institute can bring together an array of strategic partners to forge a path for addressing and identifying solutions and strategies seeking to eradicate all forms of violence against our children and adolescents”

“As many of you already know, violence against children can take many forms: from physical harm to exposure to gangs and organized crime to human trafficking and sexual exploitation.  As modern democracies, we must all agree that this can no longer be tolerated in our societies– and that it can only be stopped by the collective efforts of ordinary citizens, policymakers, governments and international stakeholders”

Ambassador said that according to a recent UNICEF report on strategies for ending violence against children, “Every year, roughly 6 in 10 children between the ages of 2 and 14, or nearly a billion children worldwide, are regularly subjected to physical punishment by their caregivers.”   No child is immune. Those at risk cut across all boundaries of age, gender, religion, ethnic origin, disability, socio-economic status, sexual orientation and/or gender identity and expression.

So he said that the conviction of the OAS is to lay the groundwork for ”

our children and to future generations to lay the bases for them to thrive and live in peace, without fear of violence and abuse.  We must dedicate ourselves to this task and continue to be strong in our resolve to fight forcefully and tirelessly against any obstacles threatening the life and dignity of our children.

Read the full speech here in its original language