Caricom Secretary-General Ambassador Irwin LaRocque has urged that the region invest in evidenced-based policies and sustainable programmes to decisively address the social causes of violence against children and youth.
LaRocque, speaking to ministers in Caricom governments with responsibility for children at the opening of the two-day 23rd Meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) at the Princess Hotel yesterday, called violence against children a “beast” and warned that it cannot be tamed by “piece-meal interventions.”
He also told the ministers that they owe it to their societies to approach the development of young people as a holistic, continuous process, where no one is left out. “An integrated approach – combining strong responsive and preventive measures that emphasize child care and protection, punitive and restorative justice for perpetrators and empowerment and participation of our children and youth – is absolutely necessary,” he said.
Further, he emphasized that no form of violence against children and youth is justified and, among other things, he called for all to work together to ensure that laws have the necessary teeth to punish those who exploit children and youth. “We must challenge concertedly and decisively the deeply entrenched cultural practices and norms that condone violence and violate the rights of our children and youth. We must expose, through public education, what is frequently considered “a private matter among family,” particularly the vexing issue of incest and child molestation,” he added.
The COHSOD forum, which is being held under the theme ‘Charting our future: an integrated development agenda and youth,’ is expected to look at violence against children and youth, including institutionalised violence, physical violence, sexual violence and psychological violence. Other issues to be addressed during the meeting include early childhood care and development; children and migration; and youth employment and development.
In addressing the issue of violence, LaRocque referred to several studies which, he said, pointed to “the jolting reality of increased violence against children and youth in spaces that ironically were once considered safe havens – their homes, schools and other social institutions.”
He explained that the problem threatens to erode all of the gains that the region fought very hard to achieve and he asserted that no violence in any form should be condoned.
The ambassador suggested that regional education goals must be linked to social development goals. “It is understood that we cannot enjoy economic development without social development. Our education system – while not a panacea for all social ills – must be one of the main drivers of social transformation,” he stated.
“If we can work together to ensure that laws have the necessary teeth to punish those who exploit our children and youth; if we can work together to build greater community awareness of the risks which children face; if we can work together to ensure that civil society addresses certain “taboos;” if we can work together to ensure that data gathering and monitoring mechanisms are in place to identify children who are at risk; if we continue to work together to ensure that the educational opportunities provided for our youth from the earliest stages remain relevant and prepare them to function in an increasingly knowledge-based environment then, ladies and gentlemen, we would be on the right path in charting a bright future for our children and their children,” he emphasized.
Gains and challenges
Meanwhile, the Chair of COHSOD, Guyana’s Minister of Culture, Youth & Sport Dr Frank Anthony, explained that the goals for the meeting are anchored in the work initiated in 2002, during the first Special Meeting of the COHSOD on Children and again at the last Special COHSOD on Children convened in March 2008 in Guyana.
He said that since the 2008 meeting, the region has achieved and recorded results with significant impact and improvement in the six agreed thematic areas of the Regional Framework of Action for Children: early childhood development, child protection, HIV/AIDS, education, infant mortality and maternal mortality.
“We are here once again in 2012 to review the Regional Framework, to assess the achievements made; the challenges encountered in implementation and identify the gaps that are yet to be filled in those areas. This critical review of the framework will help us determine how well we have been doing in our endeavour to meet the commitments made to the region’s children, adolescents and youth,” he said.
Anthony added that notwithstanding the significant gains, cognizance must be taken of the fact that these are indeed challenging times for small and developing states like Caricom countries, which will continue to face very serious problems compounded by the impact of unacceptable, increased levels of crime and violence, effects of climate change and migration on children and development.
“The increase in child sexual abuse, particularly intra-familial abuse in the home, teenage pregnancies, childhood obesity and homicides among boys 15 – 18 years are indeed cause for concern and, of course, we must keep on the agenda HIV and AIDS,” the minister said.
According to him, during the meeting the participants will be discussing the issues relating to some of the thematic areas within the Regional Framework for Action, to include child protection with an emphasis on violence against children in all situations; early childhood development and, in particular, the region’s youngest citizens, the zero to three; issues of child health, youth affairs, advocacy and public education systems to protect children.
“We will also be paying particular attention to actions that give life to the commitments made by Member States in the Declaration of Paramaribo, as we consider the Caricom Youth Development Goals and Action Plan,” he said.
He pointed out that no one government, organisation or agency can do it alone; rather, it has to be a collaborative effort with all relevant stakeholders, school, home, church, community groups, institutions making a contribution.
And Dean of the Caricom Youth Ambassador Corps Dwayne Gutzmer came with a message from his fellow ambassadors for the ministers, underscoring the importance of the region’s young people being engaged from the inception and planning stage of programmes, policies and activities that are geared toward their development.
“They told me to emphasize the point coming out of the Caricom Commission on Youth Development (CCYD) report, that our young people are assets to be developed and not problems to be solved,” he said. He added that his ambassadors advised him to state that they are fed up with the “talk shop” and that it is now time for “action and not a bag a mouth” and to communicate that young people of the region are ready to lead, act, and educate and innovate.
