A/HRC/21/31 agenda, tackling the absence of data and reconsidering incarceration of women in the light of the damage it brought to families. She concluded by stating that children of prisoners were not offenders and their development as children may not be hindered under any circumstances. 35. Mr. Pedernera, Latin American and Caribbean Network for the Defence of the Rights of Boys, Girls and Adolescents, said that Latin America and the Caribbean continued to be the most unequal region in the world and that the inequality was getting worse every year. Boys, girls and adolescents were the poorest of the region and also the most criminalized. There was a trend of accusing children of threatening security, which was leading to lowering the age of criminal responsibility in the region. Very little had been done to ensure that the Convention on the Rights of the Child became a reality in Latin America and the Caribbean. While deprivation of liberty should be used as a measure of last resort, it continued to be the most usual penalty. He raised a number of serious concerns for the region, including the fact that it included places where children were still convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment and where torture and ill-treatment still prevailed. Plans had not been developed to handle the trauma of children who were victims of torture and ill-treatment. He also referred to the situation of children in residential care, who were not part of the juvenile justice system, but did suffer deprivation of liberty. 36. Mr. Puras, Head and Professor of the Centre of Child Psychiatry and Social Pediatrics at Vilnius University, focused on how modern public health interventions could be effective in protecting the rights of children in detention, thus increasing their chances for a healthy development. He said that States needed to make investments in health that were based on the combination of a human rights-based approach and a child-centred orientation. Children in the juvenile justice system were extremely vulnerable to health issues, and had often unmet physical, developmental and mental health needs. In this regard, high rates of physical injuries, tuberculosis, dental problems, sexually transmitted diseases and HIV, as well as other problems relating to reproductive health, needed particular attention. High rates of suicide attempts and suicides among children deprived of liberty indicated the vulnerability of that group of adolescents and the urgent need to address the mental health and emotional well-being of those children in an adequate way. 37. Mr. Puras reiterated that children in detention may have different emotional, behavioural and mental disorders. Sometimes they may need psychotropic medications, but the main focus should always be on a wide spectrum of psychosocial interventions based on respecting their dignity. He indicated that one of the most important components was what mental health professionals called therapeutic environment, which was a powerful alternative to replace the culture of violence and mistrust and may help troubled children to understand the rules of non-violent relations and the consequences of appropriate or inappropriate behaviour. Investment in good mental health and emotional well-being was an important component in breaking vicious circles of violence, social exclusion, intolerance and hopelessness. In general, any institutional placement of children, whether for those in conflict with the law or for any other reason, could become a place for systemic violations of child rights if basic human rights principles were not observed. Mental health services for children could be effective only if basic human rights principles enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child were fully respected. He concluded by recalling three words that had been chosen by the Committee on the Rights of the Child as a title for the event commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the Convention: ―Dignity, Development and Dialogue‖. 38. Mr. Kemokai, Executive Director of Defence for Children International, Sierra Leone, said that under the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, the essential aim of the treatment of child offenders was the child’s reintegration into the family as well as his or her social rehabilitation. He explained that rehabilitation was the 11