Children’s right to participate. Experiences in communities and with migrant populations in Mexico

media release: Please join UW Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies Program. The events are free and open to the public.

Room 206 Ingraham Hall - 1155 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI 53706. Register for Zoom option.

About the presentation: Over the years, the civil organization La Jugarreta has created a model that is based on the right of children and adolescents to participate. I will provide information on participation processes with children and adolescents from various communities, as well as migrants living in shelters and camps on the southern and northern borders of Mexico.

About the presenter:  Maria Morfin has a degree in Social Communication from the Autonomous Metropolitan University. In her professional work she has worked in cultural promotion for children, training educators, teachers and parents, coordinating local and state educational projects, as well as preparing texts and support materials for learning processes. Since 1997, she has lived in Tepoztlán, Morelos, where in 2000 she founded La Jugarreta Espacios de Participación AC, an organization for the development and participation of children and youth, which supports girls, boys and young people so that, based on their own interests, they propose and direct collective projects for the good of the community. She has participated in consulting for multiple institutions for the implementation of programs to promote child and youth participation. Some of them are UNICEF, National System for the Integral Development of the Family, Ministry of Culture, National Electoral Institute. She has also directed training processes for professionals such as courses and workshops, and the Diploma on Child Participation, in collaboration with the UAM and the University of Valencia. She is the author of various books, guides and articles regarding child and youth participation, such as Child and Youth Participation. A Guide for its Promotion (2012). With Yolanda Corona she has written and published: -Dialogue of knowledge on child participation. -Spaces for child participation. The creation of possible worlds. -Our voice also counts. Make it heard. With UNICEF, she has specialized in the operation and operation of friendly and safe spaces for girls, boys and adolescents in different contexts and emergency situations: migration, earthquakes and communities with high rates of violence.