(Trinidad Express) Trinidad and Tobago should be ashamed that, for its level of development, the mortality rate for children under five is still so high, Planning Minister Dr Bhoe Tewarie has said.
“This cannot continue. We have an active collaboration with the Ministry of Health to make sure we address this in a systematic way,” Tewarie said in his address at a workshop called “Visioning and Planning for Trinidad and Tobago’s Children”, at the Hilton Trinidad on Tuesday.
The under-five mortality rate in 2010, according to latest World Health Organisation statistics, was 27 for every 1,000 live births.
Tewarie was responding to UNICEF representative for the Eastern Caribbean Khin-Sandi Lwin’s assessment of the challenges in Trinidad for effective child development and protection.
Lwin said Trinidad and Tobago was a regional leader in enacting various child protection policies, including establishing the Children’s Authority and the Children’s Act.
However, there were three major challenges:
1. The high under-five mortality rate, which she said was too high for the country’s level of economic development
2. Violence against children, especially between children. She said at secondary schools, four out of ten pupils have reported some type of attack once or more every year. Bullying is also on the increase throughout the Caribbean.
3. Child abuse is also a serious problem in the Caribbean, but she commended T&T for the blue teddy bear campaign for Child Abuse awareness.
Gender and Child Development Minister Marlene Coudray said an anti-bullying campaign initiated by her ministry was approved about a month ago in Cabinet.
She said the campaign would be launched in conjunction with the Ministries of Education and National Security. She was unsure when it would be launched as it was still in the planning stages, but discussions with the ministries were already taking place.
Coudray said a “holistic approach” was needed to safeguard children, but while the new legal framework will strengthen protection of children, she was not satisfied with the speed to completely enact all elements of the Children’s Act.
“The Children’s Authority is doing a lot of work. We have some issues — it is not progressing as fast as I would like them to. I am not satisfied with the pace of progress for proclaiming the Act because these things cannot wait,” she said.
She added that the ministry will need to implement administrative, legislative and infrastructural resources to ensure quick and effective implementation.
Among the requirements is the establishment of three assessment centres throughout the country; the development of standards and regulations for residences, including children’s homes and foster homes; the licensing of these homes and registering foster parents; and acquiring specialised staff including social workers, psychologists and children’s attorneys.
