Santo Domingo. On May 22, 2014, at the Diplomatic School of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Group for the follow-up to the recommendations of the UN Study on Violence against Children, met with Ms. Santos Pais, Special Representative of the Secretary General on Violence against Children, in order to present the Dominican Republic’s experience regarding the elaboration of a National Roadmap 2014-2017, to prevent and eliminate Violence against Children.

Santo Domingo. On May 22, 2014, at the Diplomatic School of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Group for the follow-up to the recommendations of the UN Study on Violence against Children, met with Ms. Santos Pais, Special Representative of the Secretary General on Violence against Children, in order to present the Dominican Republic’s experience regarding the elaboration of a National Roadmap 2014-2017, to prevent and eliminate Violence against Children.

The meeting was attended by representatives of UNICEF, the National Council for Childhood and Adolescence (CONANI ), the Ministry of Health and the NGO Coalition for Children.

Silvia Mazzarelli, on behalf of the NGO Coalition for Children, presented the process carried out during he last two years for the development of the Roadmap, a participatory process, in which different sectors of the Dominican society were consulted, incuding children and adolescents. During her presentation, Silvia Mazzarelli noted that thanks to the support of the NGO Coalition for Children and the Global Network of Religions for Children, two meetings with religious leaders were held. The meetings which were held on the World Day of Prayer and Action for Children, aimed at involving this important sector in the elaboration process of the National Roamap and at gaining the commitment of the religious leaders to prevent and respond to violence against children.

Ms. Santos Pais congratulated the Dominican Republic for being the only country in the Central American region to carry out such a participatory process under the leadership of the State, which makes the Dominican Republic a model country for the Region.
Ms. Santos Pais also encouraged the State to approve the National Roadmap as soon as possible in order to start with the implementation phase.