The Platform / Member Organizations

Platforma NNAPEs (acronym for Children with Incarcerated Parents in Spanish) is a strategic alliance of Latin American and Caribbean organisations which works with and for children and youth with incarcerated parents (and relatives). The Platform works in defence and promotion of their rights, following the principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other international instruments and standards.

This Platform started to form following the publication of the study Invisible No More (Invisibles: ¿Hasta cuándo? in Spanish), which formed a trigger point for actions to be taken, causing positive repercussions amongst state authorities and civil society actors in different countries within the region.

The Platform´s main objective is to implement actions and activities so “Children and youth of incarcerated parents are empowered to stand up for their rights and participate in advocacy actions so their specific needs are taken into consideration by national and regional public policies.”

The specific objectives that guide the work of the Platform are:

  • Generate studies and knowledge about the reality of Children of Incarcerated Parents in the region.
  • Encourage youth participation in advocacy and awareness raising actions.
  • Lead advocacy, capacity building and awareness raising actions with civil society organizations, states and international agencies on behalf of the almost 2.000.000 COIP in the region.

Member Organizations

Click on the organization logo to access its website:

The Platform Principles

The Plataform member organizations agree on the following principles:

  • COIP exist, although for many they are invisible. They have rights and should have the same opportunities to fully realize their potential as other children.
  • They have specific needs that must be addressed.
  • COIP must be protagonists in claiming their rights and they must be consulted regarding decision-making that affects them.
  • It is important to understand, accompany and support adults, most of them women, who care for and educate COIP.
  • States must comply with their obligations as guarantors of all the rights of all children, including COIP.
  • It is essential that states generate, collect and maintain data and statistical studies on COIP, to enable the development of public policies, projects and programs appropriate to their needs and rights.
  • We denounce the severe impact that mass incarceration of adult references has on the lives of hundreds of thousands of children and adolescents living in Latin America- an avoidable, partial, failed and inadequate response to the serious problem of insecurity in the region.
  • We recognize and value the silent and steady work of many workers in the prison and judicial system as well as representatives from civil society organizations, human rights and religious organizations that care and accompany those imprisoned and their families.
  • We call for comprehension, action and long-term support for COIP through community programs, and coordinated, articulated, comprehensive multisectoral approaches.
  • We commit to support initiatives that make visible and help better understand the reality in which these children and youth and their families live, and to raise awareness and mobilize those who can produce the necessary changes.
Photo: Plataforma NNAPEs

Partners, allies and regional and international networks

It would have been impossible for the Platform and its members to work without the information, support, guidance and accompaniment of the following organisations and entities of which we are very thankful:

CELIV
The Inter-American Children´s Institute (Instituto Inter Americano del Niño)
Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM – OEA)
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
Citizen Security and Justice – IDB – Home
ILANUD (in Spanish)
Osborne Association
QUNO
WOLA
Child Rights Connect
Open Society Foundations
NRCCFI – Rutgers University Camden