Federation holds Consultation on Child Protection

By Melissa Bryant
Reporter-SKNVibes.com

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – CHILDCARE representatives from across the region gathered at the Ocean Terrace Inn yesterday (Nov. 12) to discuss the implementation of a Child Abuse Reporting Protocol in St. Kitts and Nevis.

The event was jointly organised by the Ministry of Social and Community Development and the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) Office for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean.

The Protocol is the product of a research initiative founded by UNICEF to enhance the status of child protection in St. Kitts and Nevis by assisting local childcare professionals with the prevention, reporting and management of child abuse.

Discussion centred on topics such as the perception of child sexual abuse, campaigns against child abuse, the need for a reporting protocol in St. Kitts and Nevis, and the implementation plan.

A brief opening ceremony was held to officially launch the consultation and speeches were made by Minister of Health Hon. Rupert Herbert, Deputy Premier of Nevis Hon. Hensley Daniel and UNICEF Sub-Regional Advisor in Child Protection Caroline Bakker.

The ceremony also featured song and poetry performances by several local primary school children.
Bakker praised St. Kitts and Nevis for being one of the first Caribbean countries to sign and ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child, but also revealed that a recent assessment conducted by the Ministry highlighted that still too many children are missed by the social services system.

Daniel urged the public to hold all stakeholders accountable so that improvement in child issues could be seen in the coming year and also the existence of an environment that is more amenable to children.

Herbert echoed the sentiment, stating that the proper legislative and administrative framework and policies and procedures must be established to investigate reports of child abuse in order to ensure the protection of children.

“The Ministry feels that a duty is owed to ensure that children develop into well-rounded, balanced and stable individuals. Their early years are paramount in importance to their later behaviour; to things such as how they respond to love, conflict management, their attitude, et cetera, and that’s why we are placing emphasis on the quality of our early child development sector,” Herbert said.