The Department of International Affairs and IIN will hold the Civil Society Forum prior to the XX Pan American Child Congress

The Inter-American Children’s Institute (IIN) and the Department of International Affairs of the Organization of American States (OAS are pleased to inform you that the XX Pan American Child Congress will be held September 23-25, 2009 in Lima, Peru.

The Pan American Child Congress, a body of the IIN, is an inter-American meeting, held at the Ministerial level, in which high-level government authorities on children’s issues in the hemisphere participate.  The objective of the Congress is to promote the exchange of knowledge, experience and agreements between Member States of the Inter-American System.

The topics to be addressed in this meeting include: the Commemoration of the 82nd Anniversary of the foundation of the IIN, 60 years of its integration as a Specialized Organ of the OAS and 20 years since the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child; public policies in Systems for Integral Protection, including local systems; child participation in building citizenship and the influence in public policies; development of international, regional and bilateral cooperation in public policies.

In order to offer civil society organizations an opportunity to formulate recommendations about the above-mentioned topics and present them for the consideration of the Member States in their deliberations of the final Resolution, the Department of International Affairs of the OAS, in collaboration with the IIN, will hold the Civil Society Forum prior to the XX Pan American Child Congress beginning at 2:00 pm on August 25 and all day August 26, 2009 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  Please see attached the draft agenda for your reference. 

This space, organized and convened by the Department of International Affairs (DIA) and the Inter-American Children’s Institute (IIN), is held in accordance with Resolution CP/RES. 759 (1217/99) “Guidelines for the Participation of Civil Society Organizations in OAS Activities,” which supports the participation of civil society organizations in the various spaces of the political bodies, meetings, forums and other events of the Organization. The conclusions and recommendations arrived at by civil society will be distributed by DIA and the IIN to the Member States.

Furthermore, a civil society representative will be designated during the Civil Society Forum to present the conclusions and recommendations during the XX Pan American Child Congress. 
In accordance with above-mentioned resolution, civil society organizations that wish to participate in these meetings, should send a letter to the Department of International Affairs by fax (202.458.6319) or email (civilsociety@oas.org) indicating their interest in participating in the Civil Society Forum prior to the XX Pan American Child Congress and observing the XX Pan American Child Congress. Moreover, those civil society organizations which are not registered in the OAS must also submit the official charter, statutes, and most recent annual report of activities of their organization to be eligible to participate.