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Follow-up and Implementation: Mandates
  

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YOUTH AND CHILDHOOD
 MANDATES

DECLARATIONS

  1. We reiterate our commitment towards families and society to protect the rights of children and adolescents, including the right to education, the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, and the entitlement to special care and assistance, in order to promote their social well-being, protection and integral development (Declaration of Port of Spain).

  1. Considering that young people are integral to development in our societies, we commit to continue investing in our young people by implementing policies and programmes aimed at: expanding their economic opportunities; providing access to comprehensive education and training for in-demand skills; opening avenues for leadership; and promoting healthy lifestyles. We therefore reaffirm our commitment to the 2008 Declaration of Medellin on Youth and Democratic Values (Declaration of Port of Spain).

  1. Considering the importance of child protection public policy and legislation in our Hemisphere, as well as the need for institutions at the state level to channel these efforts, we reaffirm the relevance of strengthening the institutions that work with children, and improving their linkages to the inter-American system, and in particular the system for the promotion and protection of human rights, as appropriate. Taking into consideration national circumstances, we will continue to encourage efforts to ensure that child protection systems facilitate family, community and social environments that are free from violence and abuse and promote comprehensive development of the child, adolescent and the family environment with special emphasis on the most vulnerable sectors of our societies. In this sense, we support the organisation of the XX Pan American Child Congress, to be held in Lima, Peru from September 22 to 25, 2009 (Declaration of Port of Spain).

  • Other Declarations related to Youth and Childhood: Dec. PoS. 18 - Dec. PoS. 33 - Dec. PoS. 35 - Dec. PoS. 36 - Dec. PoS. 44 - Dec.MdP. 25 - Dec.MdP 41 - Dec.MdP 70 - Dec.NL. 32 - Dec.NL. 60 - Dec.QE. 8 - Dec.SCS. 6

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PLANS OF ACTION

  1. To reduce youth unemployment and significantly lower the percentage of young people that neither study nor work. We shall strengthen our efforts in the development of specific policies for training, vocational training, reinsertion into the educational system and promotion of access of young people of either gender to their first job. In this respect, some countries promote youth employment in non traditional sectors such as in the conservation and rehabilitation of the environment and in areas of public-private partnerships to enable access to formal education and introductory professional courses in the workplace. We shall promote targeting these programs, in particular, towards youths that are most vulnerable, whether because of low levels of education or low income (Plan of Action Mar del Plata).

  1. Consider, signing and ratifying, ratifying, or acceding to, as soon as possible and as the case may be, the two Optional Protocols to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, specifically on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, and the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography; seek to integrate fully their obligations pursuant to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and other international human rights instruments into national legislation, policy and practice (Plan of Action Québec).

  1. Integrate fully the human rights of children and adolescents into the work of hemispheric institutions, including the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the IACHR and the Inter-American Children’s Institute (IACI); (Plan of Action Québec).

  1. Increase access to opportunities for sustainable entrepreneurship, productivity and employment among young people; (Plan of Action Québec).

  1. Recognizing that promoting the rights of children and their development, protection and participation is essential to ensure that they reach their full potential; further recognizing the effectiveness and the need for intervention centered on protection against discrimination, inequity, abuse, exploitation and violence, especially of the most vulnerable and taking into account a gender perspective; asserting the importance of the cooperation endorsed at the Tenth Summit of Ibero American Heads of States and Governments in Panama, as well as the significant opportunity for progress for children in 2001 in the context of the Inter American Year of the Child and the Adolescent and the goals adopted at the 1990 World Summit for Children; and recognizing the vital contribution of the Convention of the Rights of the Child in the promotion and protection of children's rights, and the work undertaken by the Inter-American Children’s Institute (IACI):(Plan of Action Québec)

  1. Implement and support the commitments contained in the Agenda for War-Affected Children agreed to by 132 states at the International Conference on War-Affected Children held in Winnipeg, Canada, in September 2000, including fostering the active participation of children and adolescents in policy, dialogue and programming for children and adolescents affected by armed conflict and also encouraging the establishment of a network for them; consider additional ways to monitor, report on and advocate the protection, rights and welfare of children affected by armed conflict in the Hemisphere in conjunction with the IACHR's Rapporteur for Children's Rights (Plan of Action Québec).

  1. Promote actions to establish, strengthen and implement public policies to ensure the well being and integral development of children and adolescents , and promote the convening of conferences, seminars and other national or multilateral activities dedicated to children and adolescents, especially throughout 2001 in the context of the Inter American Year of the Child and the Adolescent (Plan of Action Québec).

  1. Ensure that every child in conflict with the law is treated in a manner consistent with his/her best interests, in accordance with our obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other relevant international human rights instruments, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; bear in mind the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice; and provide training opportunities, as appropriate, including gender sensitivity and human rights instruction, to those involved in the administration of justice (Plan of Action Québec).

  1. Identify, share and promote best practices and approaches, particularly community based approaches aimed at supporting families, meeting the needs of children and adolescents at risk and protecting them from physical or mental abuse, injury or violence, discrimination, neglect, maltreatment, and exploitation, including sexual abuse, commercial exploitation and the worst forms of child labor as expressed in ILO Convention 182; in accordance with national legislation, develop national policies and models for rehabilitation or judicial systems for minors, incorporating initiatives for crime prevention, safeguarding the due process of law, and allowing access to institutions and programs for rehabilitation and reintegration of child and adolescent offenders into society and their families (Plan of Action Québec).

  1. Endorse and seek cooperative means to advance the recommendations contained in the Kingston Consensus of the Fifth Ministerial Meeting on Children and Social Policy, held in Jamaica in October 2000, which represents the region's contribution to the UN Special Session for Children to be held in September 2001 (Plan of Action Québec).

  1. Encourage cooperation to reduce cases of international abduction of children by one of their parents; consider signing and ratifying, ratifying, or acceding to, as soon as possible and as the case may be, The Hague Convention of 25 October 1980 on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, The Hague Convention of 29 May 1993 on Protection of Children and Co operation in respect of Inter-country Adoption, and the 1989 Inter American Convention on the International Return of Children; and comply with their obligations under these Conventions in order to prevent and remedy cases of international parental child abduction; (Plan of Action Québec).

  1. In order to protect and promote children's rights, develop and implement inter sectoral policies and programs, which may include the promotion of civil registration of all children, and allocate appropriate resources to undertake these tasks; establish and support cooperation amongst states as well as with civil society and young people to ensure effective implementation and monitoring of children's rights, including country appropriate indicators of the health, development, and well being of children, and through sharing best practices on reporting through national reports by States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child; (Plan of Action Québec).

  1. Promote consultation, participation and representation of young people in all matters affecting them by providing access to reliable information and opportunities for them to express their views and contribute to discussions in local, national, regional and international fora and events; (Plan of Action Québec).

  1. Reinforce the role of PAHO, the IACI, and the IACHR as technical advisors to the SIRG, on all aspects of children's issues, and recognize the importance of these institutions in follow up of relevant Summit recommendations. (Plan of Action Québec).

  1. Promote the adoption of legal, educational and social measures, as well as international cooperation, to combat the physical and sexual abuse of children, traffic in minors, child prostitution and child exploitation in all its forms, including pornography. At the same time, they will strengthen international cooperation through the implementation of a regional information system on affected children, based on national information systems, with the participation of and promotion by concerned international organizations, to analyze their condition and evaluate social policies to facilitate decision making in this sphere. (Plan of Action Santiago).

  • 2.7 Undertake all measures necessary to guarantee the rights of children, and, where they have not already done so, give serious consideration to ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.(Plan of Action Miami).

  • Other Plans of Action related to Youth and Childhood: Poa. MdP. 2 - Poa. MdP. 46 - Poa. MdP. 49 - Poa. MdP. 53 - Poa. QE. 80 - Poa. QE. 81 - Poa. QE. 180 - Poa. QE. 184 - Poa. QE. 203 - Poa. QE. 205 - Poa. QE. 218 - Poa. QE. 221 - Poa. QE. 225 - Poa. QE. 227 - Poa. QE. 239 - Poa. QE. 243 - Poa. SA. 3 - Poa. SA. 4 - Poa. SA. 40 - Poa. SA. 56 - Poa. SA. 91 - Poa. SA. 92 - Poa. SA. 98 - Poa. SA. 152 - Poa. SA. 155 - Poa. SA. 161 - Poa. SA. 163 - Poa. SCS. Initiative 1 - Poa. SCS. Initiative 3 - Poa. MIA. 16.6 - Poa. MIA. 17.1 - Poa. MIA. 17.2 - Poa. MIA. 17.3 - Poa. MIA. 17.4

 

 
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