On November 20th, 1989 the United Nations General Assembly approved the Convention on the Rights of the Child. This agreement represents a major milestone in world history and has been accepted and ratified by nearly all the countries of the world.

On the 20th anniversary of this convention, the organizations part of the Latin American Chapter of the World Movement for Children have united their efforts to stimulate a deep analysis process, as well as a debate about the advances and challenges faced in the implementation of these regulations in Latin America.

The members of the World Movement for Children recognize there is still a lot to do in terms of the investment in and fulfillment of mandates and actions, mainly regarding its implementation in the daily lives of children, adolescents, their families and communities. This study will serve as a base to define the region agenda and priorities in order to strengthen the articulated work of coalitions and national networks for their political incidence in favor of children.

Different threatens such as youth labor, the underage people trade slave, sexual violence and abuse, as well as the lack of access to education and health and situations of discrimination because of social, economic, gender and origin reasons are growing among children and adolescents. In order to provide an answer to these situations, the formulation of public policy focused on the rights directed to reducing the economic, social and cultural causes that negatively impact children and adolescents in the region has been proposed.

According to Nils Kastberg, UNICEF Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean , it is necessary to improve coordination between schools, the health service, justice systems, the police and border services in order to eradicate sexual exploitation and abuse.

On the 20th Anniversary of the Convention, the World Movement for Children is calling on all the states to increase transparency in the use of resources, as well as to implement public accountability in their allocation and utilization, and to commit themselves to maintaining and increasing investment in children and to reforming the judicial and penal systems to protect children, adolescents and youth.
The movement also asks all families, communities, civil society, states, and international organizations to insure and guarantee spaces for the legitimate participation of children and adolescents in the fight for their rights and in the search for solutions to the problems that affect them. This will make a transformation of the present and the future of our continent.