In the international seminar “Towards a State that guarantees the rights of children and adolescents”, President Michelle Bachelet announced that the law, which will comply with the regulations contained in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, will be submitted to parliament at the start of the second half of the year, and she also reported the creation of the “Children's Ombudsman”. This two-day activity organised by the Childhood Rights Council brought together prominent national and international speakers and exhibitors on Monday the 27th and Tuesday the 28th of May.

The first day of the seminar included the participation of the following ministers: Finance, Alberto Arenas; Health, Carmen Castillo; and Social Development, María Fernanda Villegas. Also present were the Deputy Secretary of Justice, Ignacio Suárez; the President of the Senate, Patricio Walker; the EU Ambassador to Chile, Rafael Dochao-Moreno; and the UNICEF representative in Chile, Hai Kyun Jun.

The European Union is collaborating with the Childhood Rights Council through the EUROsociAL Programme. Thus it supported the exchange of pro-children's rights policies between Chile and Norway, a country whose parliament enshrined the principle of the “best interest of the child” in the nation's constitution. This international seminar benefited from the participation of Mario Biggeri, lecturer at the public University of Florence and coordinator of the thematic group for studies on childhood in the Human Development and Capabilities Association (HDCA).

In the meeting, the President stated that “The National Childhood Rights Council has done exhaustive and participatory work to create a comprehensive system to guarantee the rights of children and adolescents, in which the State is called on to fulfil the role of guarantor. The draft law to guarantee these rights is in the preparation stage, and in August it will be submitted to Congress so that debate can begin”. Likewise she announced that this law includes the creation of the figure of the Children's Ombudsman. The main objective of this seminar is to present the bases for a public policy on children and adolescents and the law to guarantee their rights, and to enrich the debate on political, legislative and institutional reforms related to childhood with critical reflection by international experts.

The former Children's Ombudsman of Norway, Reidar Kvaal Hjermann, the special representative of the UN Secretary-General on Violence Against Children, Marta Santos Pais, and the Director of the Santander Chair on Law and Minors, Clara Martínez, are some of the experts who also spoke at the meeting, in addition to representatives and advisers from organisations such as the United Nations, ECLAC, EUROsociAL, Unicef, authorities from the three branches of government, and representatives of civil society.

Regarding the preparation of this new law, the Executive Secretary of the National Childhood Rights Council, María Estela Ortiz, indicated the importance of this project aimed at generating a cultural change in how children are treated. “In Chile close to 70% of children are subject to violence on a daily basis, and this law, among other things, will penalise corporal punishment of children. In addition, the announcement of the creation of the Children's Ombudsman is really extraordinary, as people under 18 years of age will have an autonomous institution that from different spaces will defend and protect them. Chile is advancing by leaps and bounds in making it so children are recognised as legal subjects”.