Muni Figueres, Costa Rican ambassador to the United States, stressed the importance of international child protection in a keynote address at the “Kids in Between: Exploring a Unified Strategy for Child Protection in the Americas” conference Thursday morning.

“Truly the greatest test of any human grouping is its ability to nurture children,” Figueres said. “A country’s richest resource is, of course, its people.”

The conference, which was co-sponsored by the International Social Service and the Georgetown Public Policy Institute Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership, focused on the need for a childcare system that caters to those who are neglected by the child protection system in the United States, Mexico and Central America.

During her keynote address in Lohrfink Auditorium, Figueres described the conference as just the first step toward international child protection.

“This is the beginning of a series … of explorations of diagnostics in Latin America’s children’s issues,” she said.

Figueres said that there are several ways to measure a country’s developmental capacity, including their treatment of women, the elderly, the disabled and animals.

“We are, after all, like the U.S.; a nation of immigrants and very proud of it,” Figueres said.

But according to Figueres, immigration can lead to the separation of families, creating the necessity for an ISS presence in Latin America.

The organization, which aims to help children, adults and families separated by international borders, offers services such as tracing documents, child protection alerts and training for legal and social service personnel that deal with international cases.

“ISS combines thinking with action,” she said. “This conference is important, it’s necessary. It’s more than timely, it’s urgent.”

Figueres said that she thought organized crime, drugs and weapons represented the most pressing issues in child and family protection.

“I think that there is a deep sense of urgency that we can tap into,” she said, adding that she wanted to focus on raising awareness of these issues in the United States.