Dear Fellow Lasallians throughout PACIFIC-ASIA REGIONAL CONFERENCE (PARC).

We greet you in the name of St. La Salle. We have concluded APLEC 2000 (ASIA PACIFIC LASALLIAN EDUCATOR'S CONGRESS) and want to share with you what a wonderful experience it has been.

190 Brothers, Partners and Associates from 10 countries in PARC and 3 countries of the international Institute joined the representatives from India. We listened, reflected and prayed; we discussed, danced and sang; we celebrated our common Lasallian heritage.

We had a powerful experience of international community and we pursued, together and by association, our chosen theme: to Promote and Protect the Child's Rights in Our Lasallian Educational Projects.

We developed a deeper understanding of the situations of violence and abuse which gave rise to the United Nations documents: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Our presenters gave us both theory and examples of what is required to implement and monitor those conventions.

Brother William Mann, FSC, Vicar General, situated our theme in our Lasallian heritage. He helped us to reflect on the 43rd General Chapter's call to take action on this issue of the child's rights (Proposition 14).

We come now seeking your help and involvement. The members of each sector are bringing back suggested lines of action. They have been written with the circumstances and context peculiar to each sector. We have also agreed to collaborate and share our programs and resources with one another.

We ask you to join us in the further study, refinement and implementation of these strategies. Together, we want to respond in each sector to the call of the 43rd General Chapter with plans which are appropriate and which will have the intended effect.

RESOLUTION: We, the participants of APLEC 2000, commit ourselves to pursue the action plans proposed for our home sectors concerning the rights of the child in our Lasallian educational mission; our sector leadership will report on the implementation at the PARC 25 meeting (January 2002, Japan) and we will have reports and consideration of further action at APLEC 2002 - December.

We look forward to sharing with you what the spirit of these days has given us. Though we are from different faith traditions, different cultures and nations, involved in different forms of the Lasallian mission, we ask you to share with us a common Lasallian commitment: to promote and protect the rights of the child in our Lasallian Educational Projects.

Your Brothers and Sisters in the Lasallian Family, Participants of APLEC-2000
Madurai,
Tamil Nadu, India.