Since 2004, in response to a call from the Committee on the Rights of the Child, SOS-Kinderdorf International has actively supported and participated in processes and events leading to the draft set of "UN Guidelines for the appropriate use and conditions of alternative care for children". It is hoped that the draft will be presented in time for international adoption during the United Nations General Assembly in September 2008. The draft guidelines have been translated in Arabic, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.
With the Arabic translation and adaptation particularly in mind, the question of developing, understanding and implementing such international standards within specific regional and national contexts acquires a growing significance.
From April 8 - 10, three years of planning and conceptualisation will be drawn together at a workshop in Cairo intended to launch a regional process to formulate Arab Guidelines for Children without Parental Care. The workshop, hosted in partnership between SOS-Kinderdorf International, the Arab League of States and the Arab Council for Childhood and Development (ACCD), has two broad objectives. Firstly, to generate understanding of the links between international processes and regional perspectives and, secondly, to create awareness about the UN Guidelines through an analysis which encourages understanding within both regional and national perspectives.
A specific outcome of this workshop will be a regional analysis of the international guidelines which will serve as the foundation for the development of a set of Arab guidelines which we expect to launch during a high-level conference planned for December 2008.