The presidential proposal to merge 18 decentralized bodies of the federal government, including the National System for the Comprehensive Protection of Girls, Boys and Adolescents (SIPINNA) summoned former vice presidents, experts and independent experts from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, who expressed their deep concern about this initiative, considering it regressive.
Marta Santos Pais, former member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and former Special Representative of the UN Secretary General on Violence against Children, from 2009 to 2019, as well as Rosa María Ortiz, former member of the CRC and former Commissioner and Rapporteur on Children’s Rights of the IACHR.
In addition to Sara Oviedo, former vice president of the CRC, Norberto Liwski, former vice president of the CRC, and Jorge Cardona, former member of the CRC, warned that this is the legislative reform that intends to pass the National System for the Comprehensive Protection of Children and Adolescents (SIPINNA) to the National System for the Integral Development of the Family (DIF) would be contrary to international human rights law, especially the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its two Optional Protocols, of which Mexico is a State Party.
They highlighted that SIPINNA is the most advanced institutional design that has been achieved in the region for the comprehensive protection of the rights of children and adolescents, and has demonstrated important national contributions to prevent effects on children, with the articulated effort of thousands of civil servants and civil servants throughout the country.
For this reason, they emphasize that its disappearance or merger with a care institution would imply “an institutional setback that would seriously affect the best interests of children and adolescents in Mexico.”
In addition to indicating that the reform initiative of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, sent to the Chamber of Deputies, also goes against the recommendations made to the Mexican State by the Committee on the Rights of the Child in 2016, where the great progress was recognized that represents the SIPINNA for the guarantee of the rights of children and adolescents in the countryand it was requested to strengthen it.
“Likewise, we echo UNICEF Mexico’s call to the government to hold an open debate on the contributions of SIPINNA and how to improve its functions.
“Therefore, we respectfully urge the Mexican government to reconsider its proposed legislative reform; and undertake actions with civil society and organized children to strengthen SIPINNA as a decentralized, specialized body and coordinator of public policies on the rights of children and adolescents”, they urged.
Finally, they urged the country to comply with its international obligations and to cooperate with the Committee on the Rights of the Child and other UN human rights mechanisms to guarantee full respect for and protection of the rights of all children and adolescents in Mexico.
