Attorney General and World Vision sign cooperation agreement

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Santo Domingo (February 16, 2016).- The Attorney General of the Dominican Republic and World Vision work together to strengthen the enforcement of the rights of children and adolescents in the country.

The Attorney General of the Republic, Francisco Dominguez Brito, and the director of World Vision in the country, David Coates, signed a collaboration agreement, which also includes social development in conflict mediation, with the participation of young and adult residents in vulnerable sectors.

Marisol Tobal,  the second substitute of the Attorney General and national coordinator of Children and Adolescents, attended the agreement signing, which took place in the meeting room of the office Dominguez Brito. Stefan Pleisnitzer, director of World Vision for Latin America and the Caribbean also attended.

From left to right, Stefan Pleisnitzer, director of World Vision for Latin America and the Caribbean; David Coates, director of World Vision in Dominican Republic; Francisco Dominguez Brito, Attorney General of the Dominican Republic; and Marisol Tobal, Attorney General of Children and Adolescents.

"It is an honor for us as prosecutors who work in this regard, as we have long worked together with you, and now this agreement gives us a great privilege to once again develop actions for our children," said Dominguez Brito.

Coates ensured that World Vision will always be in the best position to serve, while he welcomed the signing of the agreement which he defined as important to the wellbeing of children.

The agreement aims to establish a basis for mutual collaboration to join forces and resources in the implementation and promotion of measures to protect children and adolescents from violence, exploitation and neglect, especially those who have suffered as victims, ensuring the appropriate penalties for offenders as well as compliance with the protocols and standards set by national and international legal frameworks.

The agreement also provides that the Public Ministry, through the Attorney-General for Children and Adolescents, is committed to implementing awareness programs and training to justice sector actors, with regional training sessions for prosecutors and auditors who work with such cases nationwide.

Training will have, as a key strategy, the prevention of abuse, violence and exploitation against children and adolescents, as well as the development of talks to parents on these issues.

Both entities commit to coordinate with the ministries of Public Health and Education in order to achieve greater effectiveness in the process of identification, reporting and monitoring cases of abuse against children and adolescents, according to the established protocols and rules.

In addition, they commit to carry out sessions to revise and update the protocol of attention to the population victim of abuse and violence in an attempt to adapt it to the Dominican reality, including neglect that children are exposed to, especially those who are in a vulnerable status due to poverty, family and community context.

Similarly, both entities will promote the creation of an observatory on the effectiveness of judicial and alternative mechanisms that protect the rights of this population, and to promote the definition of guidelines to ensure a more effective protection of those prerogatives.

They also agree to design educational materials on child protection, procedures and response mechanisms in cases of abuse or rape. Each entity has the responsibility to appoint a staff, which will meet in order to monitor the implementation of what was stated in the agreement and prepare in the first quarter a detailed implementation plan.