The member organizations of the Latin American Network of News Agencies for Children’s Rights (ANDI Latin America Network) view communication as a critical tool to the development process on the continent. To this end, they are actively engaged in mobilizing and building capacity among journalists and in media monitoring initiatives in the region’s 12 nations.

The ANDI Latin America Network was established in 2003 as a joint initiative of non-governmental organizations committed to promoting the rights of girls, boys, and teenagers. Its mission is to provide support to the consolidation of a journalistic culture committed to boosting the public visibility of the priority policies adopted for the youngest population segments and contributing to human and social development, as well as equality and equity.

Each ANDI Network agency is backed at the local level by a social organization of recognized distinction in the human rights, communication, and development field in its country.

The objectives of the Network are:

• To foster socially responsible communication practices among journalists, media companies, information sources, and other social actors, with an emphasis on public policies.

• To promote the right to information and communication, without discrimination of any nature.

• To contribute to the process of democratic governance in, and the democratization of, Latin American societies through the promotion of citizen participation in social control.

• To build national and regional information systems capable of enhancing public discussion on the social agenda.

• To promote the effective participation of girls, boys, and teenagers in the various social spaces, with particular attention to communication activities.

• To stimulate the exchange of experiences in the fields of communications and rights between Network member organizations and society as a whole.

In the span of just one year following its founding, the ANDI Latin America Network was recognized as one of the three most innovative development projects in the world. The award was bestowed by the Government of Japan and The Global Development Network, a World Bank initiative.