BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – ALTHOUGH sub-regional governments have made “significant achievements” in advancing child rights, they have not been submitting reports to the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) that would paint a clearer picture about the status of their children.
According to Minister of Social Services in the Nevis Island Administration, Hensley Daniel, OECS governments and Barbados must introduce systemic monitoring of child programmes in order to meet UNICEF’s conditions.
He made the assertion during last week’s mid-term review in St. Kitts of the 2008-2011 multi-country programme of cooperation between UNICEF and sub-regional governments.
“The unavailability of funds makes it even more critical that we establish appropriate monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for ongoing and new projects. We need to know if we are targeting the right persons, if our services are reaching the intended audience, and etcetera.
“These are questions that must be answered if we’re going to get value for our limited resources,” Daniel stated.
During the conference, policymakers measured progress made on fulfilling the programme’s conditions and objectives, which are aimed at fostering a protective and participatory environment for children.
While every Caribbean country has signed onto the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, many have failed to ratify its follow-up protocols or submit country reports to the international organisation.
The lack of regional reporting was noted by UNICEF Representative Tom Olsen, who urged countries to submit any outstanding state party reports before the programme’s conclusion in 2011.
Daniel said conference participants had left “energised and eager” to confront the realities faced in childcare and to honour their international commitments.
He also revealed that St. Kitts-Nevis had fared comparatively well to its OECS neighbours on a number of issues, notably teen pregnancy and early childhood stimulation.
“The Federation was praised for its early childhood development (ECD) system, as well as for Project Viola, our teen mothers’ programme. We shared a number of best practices with the other OECS countries and the discussion was very frank and heartfelt.”
Daniel said other priorities in the social sector would be improving its human resources, enhancing national responses to child abuse and continuing the push for universal ECD coverage.
