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Informative summary
IFCO-RELAF Regional Training Seminar 2007: "The Right to Live in a Family: Foster Care and Other Alternatives"
May 17, 18 and 19 2007, Hotel Hermitage, Avenida Colón 1621, Mar del Plata, Bs. As., Argentina Co-organised by: Fundación Centro de Estudios Políticos, Económicos y Sociales (CEPES), and Grupo de Acompañamiento a Familias Adoptivas (GAFA) http://relaf.ifco.info/mardel/index.html The IFCO-RELAF Seminar was a highly successful event, gathering 300 people from 15 countries during 3 enriching working days at the Hotel Hermitage in the city of Mar del Plata . The Seminar was aimed at gathering individuals and organisations committed to advocating for children's right to family and community living in Latin America and the world. The purpose was to share and learn together within the framework of an international integration context for this issue through the exchange of experiences . (For further info, please see original announcement on the event's website). There were 44 presentations in plenary conferences and panels for the whole audience gathered in two rooms (a second one for late-comers with a screen), within the following themes:
(Please see full Programme on the event's website). All speakers participated on a voluntary basis. The working days started in the morning (09.00am), with a later coffee break and a break for lunch, and continued in the afternoon with another break until the end of presentatios (approximately at 20.00pm). The Seminar was attended by all child care stakeholders in Latin America , from all cults and religions: Families, the State (Judicial, Legislative and Executive Power, and governmental child care bodies), Community (organisations from the civil society and individuals interested), experts (professionals and field workers in all areas of child care, including health and education), and mass media. The event's language was Spanish, although there were some volunteer interpreters for English- and Portuguese-speaking participants. Among the personalities at The Opening Ceremony, taking place on Thursday 17th, were the IFCO President (Mr. Keith Henderson), IFCO Executive Director (Mrs. Bep van Sloten), the President of Fundación Cepes (Mr. Daniel Rodríguez), the Head of Social Development for Mar del Plata (Mrs. Julia García, who attende on behalf of the City Mayor, Mr. Daniel Katz), María Soledad Franco (Coordinator of the IFCO-RELAF Network in Latin America), Mrs. Elida Fernández (Coordinator of the Foster Care Programme of CEPES), Dr. Marisa Graham (General Director of Childhood, Adolescence and Family of the Government of Buenos Aires City), Dr. Gabriel Lerner (National Director of Programmes and Rights of the National Secretariat of Childhood, Adolescence and Family), Dr. Ennio Cufino (Programme Coordinator for Unicef Argentina), and Mrs. Emily Jean McFadden (from Grand Valley State University, Michigan). The opening panel on Saturday was opened by Dr. Cristina Tabolaro (Sub-Secretary of Promotion and Protection of Children Rights of the Ministry of Human Development of the Province of Buenos Aires ). Furthermore, present at the Seminar were: • The highest authorities from child care governmental bodies at municipal, provincial and national level and from local and Latin American non-governmental organisations • Personalities of the international arena like Dr. Norberto Liwski (former Vice-President of the UN CRC) • Other experts from abroad, like the working team from the Quality4Children Project (done in Europe by SOS Children Villages , IFCO and FICE) • And participants and speakers from the following countries: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, Mexico, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Venezuela, Italy, The Netherlands, Ireland, Austria, and USA. The Closing Ceremony took place on Saturday 19th with a ruffle of books for the participants, a local artistic performance and a wine of honour, and the final words of the organisers. All papers were published in the Seminar proceedings sold at the event. The Seminar was also recorded, and all audios of the presentations and Power Points (together with pictures) were assembled in CD that was distributed for free among the participants at the end of the event. All this material has moreover been uploaded on the Seminar's website. The Team from Fundación CEPES drafted an evaluation form which was handed in to all participants in order to collect different opinions about the event. Some main conclusions are listed below, with positive pieces of criticism to be considered for the next IFCO event in the region: • Lack of room for exchange • Many presentations • Parallel workshops should have been included • Working days were too long and tiring • Mixture of themes • Absence of youths and children with their testimonies The Seminar was sponsored by Unicef Argentina, Unesco, the Municipality of General Pueyrredón, the National University of Mar del Plata, the National Secretariat of Childhood, Adolescence and Familia of the Ministry of Social Development of Argentina, the Secretariat of Human Rights of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rihts of Argentina, the Inter-American Children's Institute, and the General Direction of Childhood and Adolescence of the Government of Buenos Aires City. The Seminar was organised by IFCO, GAFA (Grupo de Acompañamiento a Familias Adoptivas) and Fundación Cepes, whose mission is to improve the quality of children's lives. The event was made possible by the financial support of the Dutch organisation Kinderpostzegels , www.skn.nl . The P resident of Fundación Cepes, Mr. Daniel Rodríguez, expressed that this Seminar gave the possibility to generate an international environment to discuss the concept of social responsibility, "founded on the right to have rights that we all have, but specially children and youths, who do not deserve to endure the contingencies of the system". Later, he claimed that "living in a family is a right", and added that during these meetings the emphasis was laid on the need to strengthen the Family as the natural environment for the full development of people, which implies "committment, stability, union, mutual help, education of our children and a place for the development of its members". Rodríguez highlighted that the Seminar came out in the context of the Foundation's foster care programme started in 2005, which is mainly based on strengthening the family. "Based on this and with the idea of facing the problem of vulnerable children, we had the opoortunity to meet IFCO and finally hold this international meeting". Furthermore, he stated that "the working days were very rich, important and moving. It was very moving to see the participants and speakers cry". He finally ratified that this work "is the axis of social recovery". The IFCO President expressed that "None of us has a full handle on the truth and therefore everyone will benefit from their attendance at this Seminar. It is important that we all learn from each other and that we understand what works and what does not work from our own experience. The one constant bit of news is that on my travels to different countries I have found that well supported and managed foster care really works. It works with the help of foster carers, it works with the help of social workers and other professionals. Principally, however, it works only with the commitment and support from government".
The background to this Seminar was the last IFCO Conference in the region, co-organised by Fundación Emmanuel in July 2003 in La Plata City , Buenos Aires , Argentina , with an attendance of almost 700 people from 33 countries. On this occasion, this dream of IFCO and the Network to gather the local child care stakeholders came true thank to the huge support and hard work of the local Team of Fundación CEPES and GAFA as co-organisers. We truly wish that everybody has enjoyed the rich exchange at the Seminar which needs to keep growing in order to increasingly strengthen the right of every child to live in a family.
María Soledad Franco Coordinator of the IFCO-RELAF Network relaf@ifco.info
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