UNICEF gives international workshop on protection and psychosocial support to children in emergency situationsRepresentatives from nine countries come together in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. It was organised by the Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean. Santa Cruz – July 1st 2008.- UNICEF started up a regional workshop yesterday in Santa Cruz to deal with the issues of protection and psychosocial support to children in emergency situations. Government representatives and UNICEF staff from Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia, Uruguay, Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Jamaica, as well as from UNICEF’s regional office and New York headquarters attended. The aim was to strengthen the capacities of UNICEF’s government counterparts and their officials to implement strategies to protect the rights of children and adolescents in situations of emergency. At the opening of the seminar, Iván Yerovi, Regional Emergencies Specialist from the Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean highlighted that “South American countries are facing emergency situations that require coherent and consistent humanitarian response. Strengthening the area of protection will ensure that the people who provide humanitarian aid will have the necessary capacities to prevent situations of exploitation and abuse that violate children’s rights.” UNICEF has developed psycho-social assistance programmes as part of its emergency response actions in South America, the best known of which is Retorno a la Alegría (Return to Happiness), also known by different names, such as Un Nuevo Sol para el Bienestar Comunitario (A New Sun for Community Well-being) in Bolivia. However, the programme works around the same four main strategies all around the world. The first of these is the development and implementation of inter-agency strategies. The second deals with developing psychosocial support capacities. Third is the strengthening of psychosocial assessment and the fourth is that of providing psychological assistance. The workshop will be led by UNICEF experts Rada Noeva and Amanda Melville, from the New York headquarters, and Rosa Izquierdo, a Spanish expert in psychosocial support. It is being held at the Salón Jazmín at the Hotel Los Tajibos and will last until Wednesday July 2nd.
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