Congress of Rio 2008

2008-12-09T21:25:00.004+07:00

Action Plan
You will find the proposal of text for the final document of the Worldwide Congress against the sexual exploitation of children and teenagers in the link “final document”. All participants will give their comments and suggestions to enrich the action plan which is part of the enclosed document. The process of consultation is now open and closes on December 28th.

2008-12-01T22:04:00.003+07:00

Thanks!
Thanks a lot to have accompanied us for these last days! This blog will remain online for a while to give everyone a chance to read and consult the documents linked to the Congress. In the next few days, other important documents will be put online as well. Before saying goodbye, we want to leave a very special thanks to the whole team of Bice who have invested in the Congress (our offices in Paris, Brussels, Lahr and Geneva). Very special thanks in the delegation of Bice in Rio de Janeiro: Alessandra Aula, Carmen Serrano, Adriano Leite, Heidi Siegfried, Héctor Rojo, Diana Gonzalez, María Elena Iglesias, Luis Cesari and Vannak Pav. Finally, we also want to thank Oak Foundation which, by its collaboration with Bice, allowed our participation in Rio. It was a well-worth journey!

2008-12-01T21:52:00.004+07:00

The Children
We had much success at the Congress of Rio! The four days of exchange with experts on children and teenagers gave us lots of information which we are eager to share with all. At the end of the Congress, we faced a few problems and moments of frustrations. These were feelings of frustration, but also pride that merged together. On the one hand, the congress was a success linked to all of the progress accomplished since the first congress in Sweden, 12 years ago. On the other, we faced many challenges. For Bice, all that we experienced these last few days will motivate us to continue our jobs in favour of children. The challenges which were raised during the Congress show the importance of Bice and its respect towards the rights of the children who are victims of violence, abuse and exploited sexually. The office in Geneva will now have another opportunity for Bice to confirm its commitment in favour of children and their rights.

2008-12-01T21:37:00.002+07:00

The end, a new departure
After months of preparation for the Worldwide Congress III against Sexual Exploitation of children and teenagers and four days of an active participation at conferences and workshops, we arrived at the end of our participation. Our team brought its expertise in Rio de Janeiro and shared it with hundreds of persons who came from all over the world to search for resolutions to problems which millions of children and teenagers face everyday. At the end of the Congress, the organisers introduced a proposal of text for the final document, which will be disclosed in approximately one month. The proposal is found by clicking on the link "final Document ".

2008-12-01T21:24:00.004+07:00

The importance of networks
The workshop on " Regional Collaboration in support for public policies " ended at 13 h. Maria Elena Iglesias, a member of the delegation of Bice, spoke about the experience of regional network against sexual violence on children and teenagers. Alessandra Aula was the
second speaker on that issue. Here are some important points of the workshop:

- The assertion of the cohesion of the organisations of networks;
- Strengthen the tools for monitoring of global aspects;
- The importance of meetings to assure exchange, captivation and broadcasting of methods and equipments;
- Develop regional actions with homogeneous elements;
- Establish mechanisms of communication.

2008-12-01T21:00:00.002+07:00

The Last Day
As planned, we arrived early in the morning to collect the Bice stand with all the brochures.
Then, we went for the last conference on « Strategies of international collaboration ».
At 11 h 30, Bice presented the workshop on « Regional Collaboration in support of public policies ».

2008-12-01T20:56:00.003+07:00

The Congress in pictures
If you want to see little more of the Congress, we invite you to take a look at some of the photographs of "Rio Centro", general ambience, workshops, etc in the link « The Congress in pictures ». Great conference and will write more tomorrow!

2008-12-01T20:51:00.003+07:00

The Role of the Family
During today's (November 27th) workshop, family matters was the main topic and Bice contributed in two workshops. The first was on « The role of the family in the conflict against sexual exploitation of children and the teenagers » and other one was on « The participation of the children and teenagers ». Below, are recommendations of the first workshop:

- Reassert the importance of the family and consider it to be a vital pillar in the fight against sexual exploitation;
- Acknowledge of the CRC;
- Required to implement public policies which support families and communities in the conflict against sexual exploitation;
- Acknowledge that economic development is not always accompanied by the respect for the rights of the child;
- Required to develop solid systems rather than insulated interventions;
- Develop a process of precocious detection of problems and develop links with all areas implicated in the fight against sexual exploitation;
- Perform specific researches concerning excessive sexual behaviour on Internet;
- Adoption of a specific legal framework with norms on recognition and rehabilitation of the victims.

2008-12-01T20:42:00.002+07:00

Anecdote
After a day of attending the conferences, working workshops, display stands, etc, here was the chance to go back to the hotel. The organisation of the Congress made sure that the participants had shuttles buses to get us to the hotel. But as our day was ending in Rio de Janeiro, the driver of the bus did not know how to arrive to our hotel.

To avoid such confusion, some participants walked to their hotels while others shared taxis. Forgetting how tired we all were, we finally got a good laugh after all the mix up. After this adventure, we can say that we are of true "Cariocas" (inhabitants of Rio de Janeiro), or almost!

2008-12-01T20:34:00.003+07:00

The provision of Bice in Legislation
Bice is part of the working workshop on « norms and changes in legislation in regards of sexual exploitation of children and teenagers ». Diana Gonzales, a member of the delegation of Bice in Rio de Janeiro, spoke about the juridical procedures in Latin America concerning the problems of sexual exploitation. Here are some of main the recommendations:

- A sufficient review of legislation on the rights of the child, who places the emphasis on a perspective of type and generation in;
- More of clarity in terms of the process and protocols, as well as more transparency in the process of decision making;
- Work on the themes of sexual exploitation in an interdisciplinary perspective.

2008-12-01T18:21:00.003+07:00

Dialogue of NGO Groups
Having spent a day without access to Internet, we are back to give you supplementary information concerning the yesterday’s conference. The delegation of Bice proceeded with its job in Rio de Janeiro and gives its contribution concerning the themes of sexual exploitation. The permanent representative of Bice in Geneva, Alessandra Aula, was the main speaker for the « Dialogue of the NGO groups» was which was held in the afternoon of November 26th. Neide Castanha, of CECRIA, partner organisation of Bice, also participated in this exchange. Here are recommendations which were presented by the NGO groups:

- Primacy of public responsibility, NGOs cannot replace the State, but they have to play an active role in the process of decisions to fight against the sexual exploitation of children and teenagers;
- Even if sexual violence is a total phenomenon, public policies should be taken into consideration with different means at their disposition, and apply them accordingly to every region and culture;
-Speeches concerning the fight against sexual exploitation of children must be followed by the allocation of appropriate resources;
- In order to watch with more effectiveness the implementation of CDE and its protocols, NGOs must develop strategies to better coordinate the appropriate political processes of the society. Mechanisms of protection of social and juridical nature must also be developed to fight sexual exploitation and to be seen as a joint effort between the private and public areas and NGOs;
- Identify modalities so that NGOs gets better organised in the conflict against sexual exploitation and to assure a better protection of the vulnerable groups of children, including children in institutions, those taken refuge or displaced children.

2008-11-27T18:21:00.002+07:00

Say no to child sexual exploitation!

This morning, the conference began with “The new dimensions of the child sexual exploitation for commercial aims”. Najat M' jid, the special envoy to the UN, spoke about the sale of children, child prostitution and the infantile pornography:
- The importance of the universal ratification of the Protocol on the sale of children, infantile prostitution and pornography;
- No criminalisation of the child victims of prostitution;
- Change the actual tendency and protect the child victim, who is the centre of problem. It is necessary to stop speaking about the problems of sexual exploitation and focus on
issues such as “the family, the community or poverty as reasons of problem”;
- An emergency of a draft for the right of birth registration;
- There are several programs pertaining to the problems of sexual exploitation, but it is necessary to deal with the gravest issues first;
- The countries in which legislation is not strict, easily facilitates criminals of sexual exploitation.

2008-11-26T23:24:00.000+07:00

Internet: the good, but also the bad
Even though the opening ceremony of the Congress began with a big delay, the audience was full of emotion and enthusiasm. More than 2500 people where there to listen to the speeches of the representatives of international organizations, such as UNICEF and Ecpat, as well as the stories of two teenagers. There were even speeches from Queen Silvia of Sweden and the Brazilian president, Lula! Both were filled with such energy, passion and emotion.The president recalled that the sexual exploitation of children and teenagers is a reality in all countries of the world and that it touches not only the children of the poorest countries, but it also exists in all social classes. “Animals” and “animal behaviours”, were terms that Lula used for persons who commit crimes against children. Minutes before, it was underlined that there exists a law against the criminals of pedophilia on the internet.

2008-11-26T23:17:00.003+07:00

Tuesday, November 25, 2008
We begin our second day in Rio de Janeiro with the following workshops. It is possible to view the conference by link below:

http://www.promenino.org.br/Ferramentas/Conteudo/tabid/77/ConteudoId/e5823be2-6305-4347-8947-4875a5521683/Default.aspx

Itinerary of the conference:
26/11/08
9 h - Topic 1: The new dimensions of the sexual working of the children for commercial aims
14 h 30 - Topic 2: Legal framework and application of laws

27/11/2008
9 h - Topic 3: Integrated intersectional Policies;
14 h 30 - Topic 4: Role of the private area and social responsibility of firms

28/11/2008
9 h - Topic 5: Strategies of international collaboration
15 h - Fence of the Congress and signature of the final document.

2008-11-26T23:16:00.000+07:00

Recognition of the ground
We arrived at "Rio Centro" at 15 h 30 to confirm our registration and take our badges. Then, we went to the stand “Convention relating to the Rights of the Child”, a project that of Bice. There was enough space on the stand to put our display information: brochures of Bice and our delegations, all representing the various projects developed by Bice in collaboration with our partner organisations. During the first few hours at the "Rio Centro", we made the acquaintance of other NGOs which work for the rights of the children. Several other organisations will arrive this evening for the opening ceremony. The Congress has prepared a concert for this evening, at 20 h, with several Brazilian musicians: a variety of sounds and colours, rhythms and types, for everyone to enjoy.

2008-11-26T23:15:00.000+07:00

Preparation
After breakfast, we met to prepare the finalised works of the workshops. There is a lot of work to be done before the official opening of the Congress, which takes place at 19 h, in the audience of "Rio Centro". In the afternoon, we waited for the NGOs, groups of children and adolescents, as well as politicians. Among them, there was the Brazilian president, Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, and the first lady, Marisa Letícia. Bice is loaded with the animation of four working workshops (please use the link for further information on the workshops) and you will know about it more as they come true. The program is on an interesting theme: against children's sexual exploitation.

2008-11-26T23:14:00.000+07:00

The first day in Rio
Until now everything is going as planned before leaving for Rio de Janeiro. After the long journey of 25 hours, Vannak Pav finally arrived from Cambodia. Alessandra Aula, the permanent representative of Bice in Geneva, waited for Carmen Serrano, delegated for Latin America, and for Adriano Leite, the communication officer in Brussels. During the day, we waited for the arrival of the other members of delegations of Bice in Rio: Héctor Rojo, from Chile, María Elena Iglesias, from Peru, Heidi Siegfried, consultant of Bice, and Luis Cesari, both from Uruguay.

2008-11-21T23:49:00.003+07:00

Let’s go !
Welcome in this trip to Rio de Janiero, in Brazil. During 4 days we will discover the Congress centre “Rio Centre”, where the Thrid World Congress against Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents is held. We have the pleasure to share with you this experience and you are our guest for this international event. Every day you will have access to the activities of the Bice in Rio; a summary of the day, pictures and interviews, as well as articles from the members of the Bice delegation conveying their point of view on issues affecting nearly a million children in the world.

Thanks for being part of this noble cause!