LAUNCH OF CHILD MONTH 2003 –
ADDRESS BY MR. DOUGLAS ORANE, C.D.
PATRON OF CHILD MONTH
Salutations
(Congratulations to National Child Month Committee on celebrating its 50 th anniversary etc)
‘Protect Our Children, Save our Nation”, the theme for National Child Month 2003 is a profound rallying cry. Children, because of their vulnerability, need special care and attention and their families, communities, and the state must do everything to ensure their safety and development.
This year’s theme is calling on all of us as adult citizens of this country to do what we can, where we are, to help to protect and provide for the children of this nation.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child states that the primary caring and protective responsibilities rest with the family, that parents have an obligation to provide the child with an adequate standard of living and that the state’s duty is to ensure that this can be done.
Surely, it is possible for those of us who bring children into this world as well as the managers and operators of children’s homes, orphanages and schools as well as those who run the nation’s affairs, to provide them with an environment in which they can develop into healthy, happy, confident and fulfilled adults.
We understand that the newly drafted Child Care and Protection Act is to be presented to Cabinet shortly. We have also been told that the Ministry of Health, within which the Child Development Agency and Child Services Division fall, along with several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are in the process of developing a National Plan of Action for Children as part of the United Nations Programme ‘Creating A World Fit For Children’. We look forward to these as road maps on how to proceed from where we are.
And where we are is not so good. The National Survey of Street and Working Children commissioned by the Ministry of Health’s Child Support
Unit and the findings for which were submitted in March, 2002, estimated that there were between 2,818 and 6,448 street and working children across Jamaica. The survey also showed that the vast majority of child labourers – including street children – worked with their parents’ approval and 43 percent of these children spent their income on the basic necessities of food and clothes, while a little less than a third of them give all or some of their earnings to their parents or other family members. Large numbers of these children also suffered from physical and sexual abuse, lack of health care and limited education.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child also include:
- his or her right to Protection from abuse and neglect;
- access to the highest standard of health and medical care
- the right to leisure, recreation and cultural activities
- the right to protection from drug abuse and sexual exploitation.
- The right to protection from abduction and sale and
- His or her right to express his/her opinion and the right to have his/her opinion considered in any matter affecting him or her.
We must ask ourselves are we violating the rights of our children?
Our children have often proven to us that given the proper foundation and in some cases even the slightest opportunity, they can achieve excellence. We at GraceKennedy have seen many instances of this as we work with the residents of the downtown Kingston community.
I think that we have some of the appropriate institutions and many of the organizations and the laws and systems within which we can achieve this goal.
But even if these are not always adequate, we can go a long way towards meeting our children’s physical, social and spiritual needs if all adults are united in their determination to make whatever contribution they are capable of. It is, above all, I think a matter of mind-set, will and fixity of purpose than of human or financial resources.
For example, we can easily assume roles of big sisters and big brothers who counsel and mentor children in schools and in other institutions.
I urge all of us to become activists in the cause of nurturing, loving and protecting our children. We must offer them encouragement and support and help them to achieve their full potential.
I want to take this opportunity to call on Churches, NGOs, and business leaders to increase their work in the communities. I wish to make a special appeal to businesses to begin by doing what they can where they are. Reach out to the residents of the communities in the vicinity of your offices, factories, stores and so on. I know some people are making positive contributions in this manner and I urge others to join the programme.
We at GraceKennedy would be delighted to take you on a tour of our homework centres, introduce you to some of these talented children,
talk to you about our mentoring programme and parenting class as well as bring you up to date on the outstanding performance of some of our scholarship winners at high schools and colleges in Jamaica and overseas.
We as individuals must do our part and as a community we must insist that the state fulfills its responsibilities.
Our educational system must provide what is necessary to equip our children to live successfully in a world, which is becoming more complex and technology-oriented and where they will have to be increasingly creative, confident and innovative.
In closing I must commend the National Child Month Committee, who continue to make Child Month a significant event each year. As Patron of Child Month and Chairman of GraceKennedy Limited, I am happy to be associated Committee and its work for the advancement of our children.
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