The Institute for Children and Adolescents of Uruguay (INAU) and Mevir signed an agreement that will allow coordinating actions in situations of violence against children and adolescents from families that participate in Mevir programs. In addition, the agreement provides for the training of technicians who work throughout the territory for the detection and prevention of this problem.
The signing took place on Monday 24, at the INAU headquarters, with the participation of the organization’s president and vice president, Pablo Abdala and Aldo Velázquez, respectively; the head of Mevir, Juan Pablo Delgado, and other authorities from both agencies.
Abdala indicated that violence against children and adolescents has grown steadily and that, for a comprehensive approach to this problem, it is essential to work in coordination with all the institutions involved.
In this sense, he pointed out that Mevir is a key actor for the prevention and combat of situations of violence, due to its presence in the territory and its close work with local communities. “This agreement is very important to improve the responses we give from the State and achieve a comprehensive approach to this type of situation,” he said.
The hierarch explained that a follow-up commission will be created to implement specific actions and protocols to deal with the detection of cases of violence. In addition, INAU will provide training to Mevir technicians in relation to awareness, prevention, detection and early intervention.
There is a significant underreporting of situations of violence against children and adolescents due to their very nature, since 90% of cases occur in the family, according to reports from the Comprehensive System for the Protection of Children and Adolescents against Violence (Sipiav ), and that makes their visibility and registration much more difficult, he said.
Delgado, meanwhile, highlighted the social role of Mevir and the importance of working to prevent and combat any type of violence against this vulnerable population, in a coordinated manner to improve response capacity.
He pointed out that the agency carries out interventions throughout the country, in more than 400 places and towns with less than 5,000 inhabitants. Currently, there are 40 projects underway and the goal is to finish the year 2022 with 900 homes built and a large number of works by agreement, that is, various community infrastructure constructions, such as a sanitation network, child care centers and the family (CAIF), polyclinics and barracks, among others, in order to promote the roots of families in smaller communities.
