Representatives from the Italian and Spanish sections of Defence for Children International participated yesterday in a European conference to share their expertise on the training of professionals working with children.
Their intervention is part of the EU-funded project THEAM, an initiative aimed at training key professionals on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and intended as a multidisciplinary platform to support and orient policies, strategies and activities for and with children.
At the conference held in Lisbon, and organised by Centro de Estudos para a Intervenção Social (CESIS), DCI representatives presented the main outcomes and lessons learnt of the THEAM project as well as leading breakout sessions to reinforce transnational and interinstitutional exchanges and learning.
“Carlo Alfredo Moro, a great Italian jurist, defined the Convention [on the Rights of the Child] as a “pedagogy for human development”; this is how we conceived it and presented it to the participants in the sessions. Indeed, we believe the key to a successful approach is to enable participants to perceive the CRC as a learning opportunity and to therefore provide them with a vision that can inspire them in their daily work”, said Pippo Costella, Executive Director of DCI-Italy, referring to the methodology of the THEAM project.
Virginia Murillo Herrera of DCI-Spain shared their experience on the current shortcomings in the training of professionals and on how they can be overcome. She provided an example of good practice by mentioning interventions for children in conflict with the law and the subsequent reform of the child protection system in the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain and in Madrid [Read more about this case here: Twelve, National Report: Spain, 2015]
This conference concludes the cycle of training workshops conducted by DCI-Italy and DCI-Spain. The outcomes and lessons learnt of the THEAM project will soon be made available on DCI-Italy website and at DCI-Spain’s blog. Stay tuned!
