Panel discussion 12 March 2024: ensuring access to education

Ronaldo and Marie Elia are two children we are supporting as part of our Sandratra project in Madagascar. Both were in a street situation before being taken into care by the NRJ Centre, one of our local partners in the project. They have prepared their speeches with other children who are also supported by the Centre. They will be the spokespersons for the children in street situations, sharing their experiences and their demands.

René Marie Ephrem Rakotonirina represents Centre Nouveau Relais Jeunes (NRJ), our local partner in Madagascar since the birth of Apprentis d'Auteuil's international activities in 1994. Mr Rakotonirina has directed the Centre since 2012. As a student, he worked in pastoral integration with ATD Quart Monde and at the NRJ Centre, which gave him an insight into the environment and the importance of getting actively involved. As soon as he finished his training to become an ordained Spiritan Father, his role was to run the NRJ Centre, at the service of everyone: children and professionals. One of his missions has been to professionalise the trade and structure the project.

Located in Antananarivo, in a popular district of Andavamamba, its priority mission is to support children in street situations through several actions and activities: setting up activities directly in contact with young people in the street, providing a night shelter, literacy classes, educational activities, vocational training workshops and a boarding school.

Luis Ernesto Pedernera Reyna is an international expert on children's rights and is currently Vice-Chair of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, which he chaired from 2019 to 2021. 

The Committee examines the implementation of children's rights by the States that have ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, all except the United States. The Committee engages in dialogue with States and civil society to improve the situation of children in their countries. 

Mr Pedernera led the meeting of chairpersons of the Human Rights treaty bodies (UN) and is an active member of numerous international bodies and committees relating to children's rights. His expertise includes juvenile justice and the fight against torture, and he has coordinated the inspection of juvenile detention centres in Uruguay, his home country, and in other countries.
As a consultant, guest speaker and author, he shares his knowledge and experience with public and private organisations and in academic forums, helping to raise awareness and promote children's rights worldwide.

Su is a researcher at Manchester Metropolitan University and research adviser at the Enabling Education Network where she co-edits the annual Enabling Education Review. Her research focuses on ‘blue sky’ inclusion and social justice. Su is particularly interested in street-connected young people’s experiences of education, what they mean for the development of inclusive pedagogies of practice, and the importance of focusing on the intersection of street-connectedness with, for example, disability, gender, and/or forced displacement. Her approach to research is inherently interdisciplinary and focused on the development of academic/practitioner partnerships in knowledge development, especially in relation to transitions into, between, and out of education and training, and what happens next.

Laura Hendricksen is the Director of International Cooperation at Apprentis d'Auteuil. Graduate from Sciences Po Paris with a Master's degree in International Affairs, she began her career in humanitarian assistance to refugees and migrants, as well as in advocating for their rights, by joining the United Nations in Brazil (UNHCR) and Switzerland (OHCHR). Subsequently, her field experiences within international non-governmental organizations (Caritas, Front Line Defenders) strengthened her commitment to champion the cause of those whose voices are not heard, urging states to take action and change societal perceptions of them. In 2015, Laura joined Apprentis d'Auteuil, where she contributed to the organization's development of its activities in Europe in support of unaccompanied minors, as well as its international advocacy efforts concerning the rights of children in street situations. She is now the Director of International Cooperation at Apprentis d'Auteuil.