BEB accelerates permanency work for children in Latin America through new partnership with Government of Paraguay

Texas-based non-profit signs second new country in a month

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Sep 14, 2021, 07:00 ET

PLANO, Texas, Sept. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Just two weeks after BEB announced that its technology platform, Children First Software (CFS), would expand to the country of Panama, the Texas-based non-profit signed a Memorandum of Understanding to formalize an agreement with the Government of Paraguay, specifically El Ministerio de la Niñez y la Adolescencia de Paraguay (MINNA).

The Minister of MINNA, Attorney Teresa Martínez commented, "We welcome BEB's initiative and its efforts to improve the lives of children in vulnerable situations. This strategic alliance will enable the application of technological tools to improve the coordination of actors involved in the process of children and adolescents in alternative care."

Minister Martinez further noted, "Thanks to the technology made available by BEB, it will be possible to monitor compliance with public policy, as well as systematize and monitor the actions carried out by each of the institutions that make up the National System of Integral Protection of Paraguay".

The expansion from six to eight countries in less than a month indicates a momentum in BEB's work for children, specifically in Latin America. The growth was brought on by a multi-year agreement with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), a principal and autonomous organ of the Organization of American States (OAS). The partnership with IACHR is a welcome endorsement of CFS.

BEB and IACHR leadership have had the opportunity to partner in virtual meetings, as a result of the COVID-19 work environment, with child welfare administrations throughout Latin America to demonstrate the impact that CFS can have on a country's work for its most vulnerable children, those living in institutions.

Millions of children around the world live as orphans needlessly. In 2014 at a global symposium hosted by BEB at Harvard University, child welfare leaders indicated that countries lack the digital infrastructure designed to create visibility into who their institutionalized children are, where they come from and how they might be moved to a better future. As a result, BEB developed CFS to help bring an end to the systemic challenges that keep these children languishing in institutions, ensuring every child the chance to grow and flourish in a loving family. Collaborating with country authorities around the world, BEB is able to bridge the technology gap with CFS.

CFS follows the principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, guiding authorities through a five-phase process that begins with the creation of a child's digital profile and continues even after the child is reunited with relatives or adopted.

BEB President Mark Schwartz expresses, "Each new country that chooses to use CFS validates the time and energy that our talented BEB team has contributed to ensuring that a first-class technology solution is available to solve one of the world's most important challenges: providing all children the opportunity to grow up in a loving family and realize their best futures. We are proud to partner with Paraguay and look forward to strong collaboration benefiting their children."

About MINNA Paraguay

MINNA is the governing body for public policies aimed at the comprehensive protection of the rights of children and adolescents, through the implementation, coordination, articulation of plans, programs and projects among the actors and institutions that make up the National System for the Promotion and Protection of Children and Adolescents. The Ministry is the central authority responsible for the design, implementation and monitoring of the National Policy on Special Protection for children and adolescents separated from their families or at risk of being separated; and in this context, its function is to authorize and supervise the operation of alternative care entities.

About BEB

BEB was founded in January 2010 as a 501(c)(3) organization to promote systemic change for vulnerable children. BEB works to capture comprehensive digital profiles of children through Children First Software (CFS), a technology-driven advocate designed to identify a child's best opportunity for family-based care. Partnering with countries around the world, we transform the process to move children to their best future, a chance to grow and flourish in a loving family.

Margaret Elizabeth McKissack
Vice President, External Affairs
BEB
[email protected]
214-850-7532

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