The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) encourages relevant stakeholders to attend workshops to develop an International Workshop Agreement (IWA) 49 on Guidelines for Barnahus, a child friendly multidisciplinary and interagency (MDIA) response model for abused children.
The IWA will be developed in three sessions:
Register by August 25, 2024. An introductory webinar will be held on June 20, 2024, covering the purpose and long-term goals of the effort, information on Barnahus, and the IWA process within ISO.
Hosted by Icelandic Standards (IST) and the Swedish Institute for Standards (SIS), the workshops are free for all registered participants. The aim of the IWA is to develop an agreement on requirements that refine the practices of Barnahus/MDIA, harmonizing operation in different systems around the world.
According to IST and SIS, the basic principles of Barnahus center on the prevention of re-traumatization during investigation and court proceedings, and holistic short- and long-term therapeutic services for children and non-offending family members and caretakers. Requirements for Barnahus laid out in the draft of the IWA are aligned with recommendations of the UN Committee of the Rights of the Child (CRC), and the Council of Europe recognizes the Barnahus model as a promising practice.
Learn more in the IWA invitation.
Register to the introductory webinar here.
What is an IWA?
An IWA is a type of document that is developed with direct participation of stakeholders outside of the traditional ISO country representation to enable players to negotiate an open workshop environment. After the IWA workshop, text will be edited and published. A proposal to hold an ISO workshop for the purpose of developing one or more IWA on a particular subject may come from any source, including ISO member bodies, liaison organizations, corporate bodies, etc.