The President of Chile, Sebastián Piñera, this Tuesdayenacted the law to set up the new Office of the Undersecretary for Childhood, which will form part of the Social Development Ministry. The new entity will coordinate the development and implementation of public policies designed to protect and ensure the comprehensive and effective rights of children.
“It is a true commitment and reflects our firm, unbreakable will to prioritize the quality of life and wellbeing of all of our country’s children, particularly those who have been most at risk or whose rights have been most violated,” the President said during a ceremony at La Moneda Palace.
The President stated that the government is “fully aware that the family has a fundamental and irreplaceable role, and we are working tirelessly so that these children can recover something that belongs to them: their childhood, their happiness, their innocence, their tenderness and their ability to bring happiness to our lives.”
The new Office of the Undersecretary for Childhood is just one of the government’s actions with regard to children. They include reforming the State’s child protective service SENAME and increasing the budget allocated to work in this area.
“I am very much aware that we are working on the foundation built by the previous administration, and I have no problem recognizing that. On the contrary, countries progress when each government builds on the work of the previous one,” the President added.
President Piñera also emphasized the importance of promoting preventative measures such as the design of an early alert system called “Alerta Infancia”(Child Alert),which will be designed to anticipate the first signs that a child may, for example, drop out of school, come into contact with drugs or participate in a crime for the first time. The system will be designed to elucidate what is happening to the child and his or her family and understand how to avoid them going down what could seem like an inevitable path.
“We will make every effort to place children first in line and in the hearts of members of the government and every member of society,” the President said.
The ceremony included a performance by the Colegio Nocedal de La Pintana Youth Orchestra and was attended by Social Development Minister Alfredo Moreno, Justice Minister Hernán Larraín, Health Minister Emilio Santelices, Minister Secretary General of the Government Cecilia Pérez, Undersecretary for Childhood Carol Brown, SENAME Director Susana Tonda, and former Social Development Minister of Development under the Bachelet administration Marcos Barraza, along with former Executive Secretary of the National Council on Children, Estela Ortiz.