Towards child-inclusive justice

 The Chair in the Rights of the Child at Comillas Pontifical University hosted, in collaboration with the NGO Tierra de Hombres España, Global Initiative on Justice with Children and Terre des hommes Foundation, the second national conference under the title “With children: moving towards inclusive justice” with the goal to move forward in the protection of children.

The Vice-Rector for Institutional Relations and General Secretary of Comillas Pontifical University, Federico de Montalvo Jääkeläinen; the head of the Access to Justice programme of Terre des hommes Foundation, Yann Caillou; the president of the Plataforma de Organizaciones de la Infancia (Platform of Children’s Organisations), Carles López Picó; and the head of the International Cooperation department of Tierra de hombres España, Rodrigo Hormazábal Lama were in charge of opening the conference.

The Vice-Rector for Institutional Relations and General Secretary recalled that mental health has a lot to do with justice. “If we don not work on the mental health of minors, we are creating a perverse system”. Caillou, for his part, recalled that, although the situation has improved, conflicts have increased exponentially. The president of the Plataforma de Organizaciones de la Infancia and the head of the International Cooperation department at Tierra de Hombres España corroborated this and recalled the importance of putting children first in their own legal process.

During two intense days, professionals, agencies and key parts involved in the justice, children and gender equality sector took part in conferences and round tables aiming that aim to review and deepen priorities within an inclusive action agenda that includes gender, justice and children’s issues. With a focus on Spain, the conference also discussed the lessons that can be learned from the Ibero-American experience as well as other success stories in Mauritania as part of the agreement financed by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo).

Participants were also able to take part in the Youth Experiential Learning Simulation (YExLS), an interactive workshop, available in Spanish for the first time, in which the participants, all of them experts in juvenile justice or social services, educators or psychologists who are in contact with children who have to attend these institutions, take on the role of minors. The goal is that these professional put themselves in these minors' shoes. “We want professionals to reflect on non-discrimination against children, on the importance of personalised care and on what needs to be done so that children can access their rights as they deserve,” acknowledged the organisers.