Anja Goertzen Gaona is a legal advocate for more vulnerable children and youth in Paraguay, working with her husband as missionaries under Action International. She served as Chairwoman of the Christian organization Viva Network in Paraguay for 4 years, promoting child protection and foster care within the Church, and developing strategies and strategic partnerships with the Government, NGOs and international organizations to further the response of family care, among others. A graduate from the School of Law of the National University of Asuncion, she has since worked in Paraguayan government offices for adoptions and alternative care of children separated from their families. Ms. Goertzen was also a legal consultant with the Rapporteurship on the Rights of the Child with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IAHCH), of the Organization of the American States, in its head offices in Washington D.C., USA. As an attorney and an independent consultant, she works on different levels to bridge the gap between the national and international framework of laws and policies, and the reality of children waiting in institutional and residential care.