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Regional launch of the UN Secretary General’s study on violence against children for Latin America and the Caribbean

Regional launch of the UN Secretary General’s Study on Violence against Children with a focus on the situation in Latin America and the Caribbean. The report includes recommendations particularly targeted at Governments urging them to meet their obligations in terms of prevention and eradication of all forms of violence against children.

Who:    

• Martín Torrijos Espino, President of Panama (to be confirmed)
• Professor Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Independent Expert, appointed by the UN Secretary General to coordinate the Study. 
• Nils Kastberg, UNICEF Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean on behalf of the United Nations.
• Daniela Salazar, Expert in Human Rights of the Interamerican Commission on Human Rights
• Halima Kassim, Deputy Programme Director, Caribbean Community development (CARICOM)
• Corinna Villacorta, Vice-President of World Vision, on behalf of the Secretariat of NGOs which support the Study: World Vision, Save the Children, Plan International, Defence for Children International.
• An adolescent from Nicaragua, on behalf of the children and adolescents of Latin America who participated in the Study.

When:

16 November 2006, at 10:00 a.m.

Where:

“Casa Amarilla” of the Presidency of the Republic of Panama, Panama City

Why:

The Latin American and Caribbean region is one of the most violent in the world, where violence transcends cultural borders, class differences, education, ethnic origin or age, and threatens or even kills thousands of  children and adolescents. The root causes of this high level of violence are to be found in a combination of extreme economic and social inequalities, the predominant culture of “machismo” which characterizes the region, as well as in the failure to implement existing legal protection mechanisms.

For further information and to arrange interviews with the panelists please contact:

Foreign Ministry of Panama:
Alina Guerrero, +507 511 4189
Edith Gough, +507 511 4189
UNICEF
Isabel Benlloch, ibenlloch @unicef.org,  +507 301 7483, cel: +507 645 61 289
Miguel Cuellar, mcuellar @unicef.org, +507 301 7456
Michael Klaus, mklaus @unicef.org,  +507 301 7484
Plan International
Camilo Palacios, camilo.palacios@plan-international.org,  + 507 317 1700, cel +507 667 70 958
World Vision
Ofelia Da Silva, Ofelia_dasilva@wvi.org, + 506 2575151 Ext. 108
Save the Children
Ramón Meneses, ramon.meneses@savechildrennoruega.org.ni, + 505 2667101

Story ideas for journalists:
Visit www.unicef.org/lac  where we offer to journalists a list of story ideas on activities against violence developed or supported by participating organisations in different countries of the region.