What we do it

Because as of today, there are more than a million and a half people were deprived of liberty in the region (according to figures from Prison Studies – January 2016) – a bullish trend that does not appear to be reversible in the the majority of countries in the region.

With this in mind, we believe it is imperative to understand and make visible the impact that the incarceration of a loved one has in the lives and rights of Latin American children and youth with incarcerated parents. The issue represents a pressing challenge for State, civil society, communities and families. As the Committee on the Rights of the Children of the United Nations recognised – during the General Day of Debate in 2011– there is a “low level of general knowledge [regarding the situation] of children with incarcerated parents”.

Photo: Gurises Unidos

Our first step

In response to this situation, and with the technical leadership of Uruguayan NGO Gurises Unidos and the support of ecumenical relief and development agency Church World Service, a group of highly regarded civil society organizations specializing in the promotion and defense of children´s rights came together in 2012 to carry out the first regional report on the subject called Invisible No More.

In line with recommendations made by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child the report aimed to:

  • Understand the impact of parents’ incarceration on different aspects of the life and rights of the children served by participating organizations.
  • Identify the main policies, programs, initiatives and support services from governments and civil society serving this group and survey the children´s perception of them.
  • Raise awareness of the issue in local and regional civil society networks and contribute to the debate and design of public policy and appropriate government responses.
Invisible no more (2013)

Main actions

Our work is based on the recommendations produced by the Comittee on the Rights of the Child after the Day of general Debate in 2011 and the recommendations included in Invisible No More.

Continuing along these lines, the organizations that are part of the Platform have carried out numerous direct services, knowledge generation and mostly advocacy actions not only at a local level in each of the countries but also at regional and international level.

The key actions carried out so far were and are regularly included in the newsletters published by the Plataforma. You can find them all below. (in Spanish)

December 2015
July 2016
November 2016
January 2017

Foto: REDNANIAP