Safe spaces for adolescents: an alternative for development and fulfillment.
In its second stage, the “Boys, Girls and Adolescents Free of Violence” project, executed by the Ministry of Children and Adolescents (MINNA), with technical support from UNICEF and financing from Itaipu Binacional, expands to more cities seeking to create environments safe and favorable for the positive development of the vulnerable population up to 17 years of age. The commitment of the municipalities is key in this public policy, which aims to be sustainable over time and to be replicated in other municipalities in the country.
Currently, safe spaces for adolescents are implemented in Mariscal Estigarribia, from the department of Boquerón; Santa Rosa del Aguaray, from San Pedro; Ciudad del Este, in Alto Paraná; Yatytay, from Itapúa; Tobatí, from the department of Cordillera, as well as Lambaré, in Central, and Asunción.
To run the jobs, first, the needs of each locality were surveyed, in order to provide adequate infrastructure, equipment and items for the care of adolescents, which are the neuralgic point of the project.
“These spaces seek to create safe and favorable environments for adolescents to develop positively in the lines that they like, such as sports, recreational activities, music, theater, different forms of artistic expression,” explained Walter Emilio Gutiérrez Cabrera, Vice Minister of Planning. , Programs and Projects of the Ministry of Children and Adolescents (MINNA).
The vice-minister also reported that work with adolescents aims to make this sector of the population positively visible, keeping them away from violence, abuse and exploitation, and with a view to fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals. In this sense, Gutiérrez also highlighted the receptivity of the municipalities, since they are the bodies that will give continuity to the policy.
The project comprisesand investment and infrastructure to be used for recreational, cultural and socio-educational activities. Likewise, didactic and educational materials, sports articles, musical instruments and other inputs are guaranteed, as well as the provision of teachers, instructors, animators and volunteers to accompany the development process of adolescents, in accordance with the themes addressed in each municipality.
“Through these actions, the great objective is not to seek only a momentary response to the needs of the childhood and adolescent sector, but to establish as a public policy the positioning of the adolescent as an active and dynamic part of his life and his environment by the community, with spaces to develop and not have idle time that leads to negative things, also working closely with their families in this process”, emphasized the vice minister.
This goal in turn It implies focusing on investment and on the political commitment of government bodies, in accordance with current legislation and areas of its competence.
For Gutiérrez, all the work undertaken will be a planted seed that must continue to germinate, not as a specific action to palliate social problems, but as a government policy that lasts over time, in order to guarantee the harmonious and comprehensive development of all children and adolescents within the framework of protection against all forms of violence.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
The project “Boys, girls and adolescents free of violence” is executed by the Ministry of Children and Adolescents with technical support from UNICEF and financing from Itaipu Binacional. It is an initiative that seeks to contribute to the reduction of violence, exploitation, abuse and abandonment in childhood and adolescence in conditions of vulnerability.
