Primeros Pasos

For many years, the city streets and highways of Ecuador filled with children in the days leading up to Christmas. The vast majority came from rural communities. They roamed in small groups, knocking on doors or stopping passing cars to beg for something for Christmas. The most heartbreaking side of child begging was on display in the days just before the December holidays, … [Read more...] about Yes to Gifts, No to Begging

By María Julia Acosta It’s Sunday at noon. Analía and Javier sit down to a family lunch where Mateo, their 15-month-old son, is the main attraction in the eyes of his aunts, uncles and grandparents. But this low-key lunch quickly turns into a lively debate. Are you really thinking of sending Mateo to nursery school when he’s still so little? Don’t you think the best … [Read more...] about Too young for childcare?

By Raúl Mercer  The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most widely ratified human rights treaty in the world. In other words, it is irrefutable proof of the will of nations to recognize children as the basis for societies built on fairness and solidarity. In this sense, Latin America and the Caribbean are poised at a unique moment in their histories in which … [Read more...] about Children’s Rights are Human Rights