IJJO Interviews

In this interview, Jean Schmitz describes the activities and the projects undertaken by the Latin American Institute for Restorative Practices – ILAPR, Instituto Latino Americano de Prácticas Restaurativas - and explains the importance of spreading innovative methods of restorative justice, particularly in Latin America. This institution, based in Lima and whose main goal is to promote and foster learning, personal growth and social responsibility while promoting human and citizen relationships, betting on a better quality of life, as well as on an emotional well-being and a respect for citizens' rights, uses a methodology based on restorative practices. In these lines, Jean Schmitz will, among other issues, talk about the lessons on restorative practices taught at the ILAPR and describe the positive outcomes of using restorative justice practices, especially in a school environment, in order to reduce or prevent violence and crime by making people feeling they are part of a community in which they can share their feelings and ideas.

In this interview, Göktan Koçyildirim describes the existing child protection system and the resources devoted to the care and the best interest of the child in Turkey. He recalls the progress that has been made on those matters, but he also points out the main existing flaws in the juvenile justice system in Turkey, as well as the related challenges in the protection and justice for children, specifying the measures that UNICEF Turkey is taking in these areas. Considering the present situation in Syria, he addresses a current issue which has an impact on Turkey, namely explaining how Turkey deals with the problem of Syrian refugees, especially child refugees. As the Justice for Children and Child Rights Monitoring Specialist for UNICEF Turkey, he explains the key priorities of the 2011-2015 Country Programme Action Plan and specifies the main improvements observed since its beginning two years ago. Mr Göktan Koçyildirim concludes that there will always be new challenges to be addressed in the fields of child protection and juvenile justice, and this why efforts should be made in the long run in those areas.

In this interview, Mrs. María de los Dolores Aguilar highlights the influence that the IIN has had in the ellaboration of laws in the American Continent. She mentions that the IIN is constactly encouraging the governments to incorporate children’s participation in their policies, through the Pan-American Forum of Children. In addition, Mrs. Aguilar emphasises that the promotion of children’s rights is the main spot of attention for the proposals supported by the IIN. She also refers to the part of women in society and specifically girl’s participation, basical aspect of the promotion of Human Rights and a representative governance. At the same time, she reminds that the institution has drawn up as an objective the promotion of non-custodial sanctions. To conclude, Mrs. Aguilar also mentionsthe assistance and integral protection of young children and the importance of making a concerted effort, since most of the countries involved in the IIN have high birth rates.

In this interview, Alice McGrath describes the main challenges in the implementation of juvenile justice reforms in the Asian-Pacific area. Indeed, as the author of the first report of the Asian Pacific Council for Juvenile Justice, she explains the essential objectives of the meeting (and of its subsequent publication): it should serves as a platform which enables the countries of the region to share their experiences in order to then address challenges through improved regional collaboration. Moreover, Alice McGrath describes the real situation of the children who are deprived of liberty or in conflict with the law in the Asian-Pacific countries. She also points out that an important mission to be accomplished in order to protect the rights of children in conflict with the law in the region is to focus principally on prevention initiatives. However, it should be kept in mind that different barriers still prevent the successful implementation of a specialized juvenile justice system in the countries of the region. On that matter, according to Ms. McGrath the main challenge seems to make these issues known on a domestic and regional level, which is not an easy task to do considering all the differences between the countries of the Asian-Pacific region.

Based on his thirty years experience of recognized research, he explains his studies on sexual, emotional and social young people’s development. Thanks to his experience, he comments new innovative programs being developed in the field of prevention and intervention with adolescents who commit sexual abuses. Mr. López Sánchez also explains what are the training needs for professionals who are in contact with these young people and who strive to help them and give them a better future. Finally, he speaks about the importance of promoting sex education to young people in schools to make them understand how to behave and why.