A National Child Protection Policy has been launched here, in collaboration with UNICEF.
The Policy which was launched yesterday at the NIS Conference Room, it has been hailed as a major step forward by UNICEF’s Representative for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean Klin Sandi Lwin. (Luwin).
Mrs. Lwin (Lu-win) described SVG as a trailblazer, as this country is the first in the Eastern Caribbean to adopt a National Child Protection Policy.
The UNICEF Representative added that the policy is consistent with the Convention on the Rights of the Child and by its adoption; SVG is sending forth the message that everyone is expected to be actively involved in safeguarding the rights of children.
She also pledged UNICEF’s continued support in making the Policy work in the best interest of the children of SVG.
Delivering the keynote address at the launch, Minister of Social Development Frederick Stephenson commended the Government for the work it has been doing in relation to children, the elderly and the poor, noting that a society is judged by how it treats those vulnerable groups of people.
Minister Stephenson pointed out that since 2010 with the passing of the Child Care and Adoption Act and subsequently in 2011, the Status of Children Act and the 2015 Domestic Violence Act, the Government has demonstrated its commitment to the protection of its vulnerable citizens.
He said the Child Protection Policy is a macro-based legal and social protection strategy aimed at strengthening national protection systems, supporting social change, promoting child protection, building evidence and knowledge, and management and analysis of agents of change.
Throughout the day, stakeholders were engaged in a one day workshop to look at the policy, procedures and framework.
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