WorldForum 2004 on National Action Plans for Children

Buenos Aires - Argentina, September 28 to October 1

The International Forum for Child Welfare, IFCW and the Comité Argentino de Seguimiento y Aplicación de la Convención Internacional sobre los Derechos del Niño - CASACIDN - announce WorldForum 2004 on National Action Plans for Children, which will take place in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, from September 28 to October 1, 2004.

Within the framework of the National Action Plans, several areas of special interest will be reviewed, such as poverty, working children, and discrimination of street children, taking into account that these, as well as other similar situations, curtail the liberty of children. These areas are of concern to child welfare institutions around the world, but have a special impact on children living in developing countries. For this reason, CASACIDN agreed with IFCW to develop and review these themes.

The objectives of this event are:

• Offer CEOs and other officers of child welfare institutions a space to consider and exchange experiences about the implementation of National Action Plans.
• Learn about the present situation of the design, implementation and follow up of the National Action Plans in the different participating countries.
• Promote discussion and exchange of ideas, knowledge and experiences about the themes mentioned from an integral and pluralist approach.
• Create bonds that will ensure the effective implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

We hope that this forum will promote the establishment of cooperation in the search for alternatives to the problems of children in their respective countries and to contribute to the development of up-to-date knowledge on children matters around the world. A combination of specialized conferences, presentations and workshops will serve as the framework for the discussion and the exchange of ideas among peers.

We assume the commitment of implementing this event with the objective of contributing to the construction of a different subjectivity for all the children, based on the paradigm of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, since its implementation commits not only the State but society as a whole to bring about fundamental changes in the way we understand and act in relation to children.

It implies the need to discard decisions that treat children as things and to advance on the road of formulating normative frameworks, policies and programs that project children as future citizens through the integral protection of their rights.

And here, in this specific point, is where the great challenge emerges for those of us that, from different positions, regions and realities, have the common goal of promoting and defending children's rights: to transform this new model of looking at children and their rights into a political and cultural consensus and to advance on the legal transformations and policies that are needed to make this utopia a reality for all the children of the world.

With this objective, we look forward to see you in Argentina in September.

Sincerely yours,

Estela Barnes de Carlotto

President CASACIDN

Rolando Quirós F.

President IFCW