New Children’s Advisory Panel Urged to Continue Advocacy

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Child Development Agency (CDA), Rosalee Gage-Grey, has charged the new members of the Children’s Advisory Panel (CAP) to carry on the excellent work of their predecessors in advocating on behalf of the nation’s children.

She issued the charge at a function held yesterday (Feb. 20) to welcome the new panel and express appreciation to the outgoing team.

“The team before you… (has) left a legacy of achievement and we are confident that you will take this baton…and run your own race and chart you own course,” Mrs. Gage-Grey said, at the function held at the Pollyanna Restaurant in Kingston.

Launched in 2012, the 15-member panel provides child-friendly advice to the CDA’s Executive Management Team on existing and emerging policy issues, as well as matters of concern affecting children.

The CEO said convening of the panel is in keeping with the CDA’s commitment of ensuring that the views of children are taken into consideration in formulating and implementing policies within the agency.

She said the CDA firmly adheres to the principles of child participation as outlined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which notes that children must have a say, and their opinions taken into account when decisions are being made on their behalf.

The CDA Head expressed “heartfelt thanks” to the outgoing panel, led by “the dynamic” Charles Young, which she said, has made the agency “very proud and you have served us well.”

“This group of dedicated youngsters has played a key role in matters such as: conducting research on the experiences of wards and staff in four residential facilities to better guide the CDA; providing an independent review on the Trafficking in Persons Act; and facilitated regional stakeholders’ meetings and sessions on the Child Care and Protection Act and the Children (Adoption of) Act, as part of the review of those pieces of legislation,” she informed.

She noted that members of the outgoing panel were also instrumental in engaging and edifying their peers by chairing several sessions of the Child Research Conference and in 2014, they conceptualised and staged Jamaica’s first national Children’s Summit.

Mrs. Gage-Grey pledged to provide the same support and nurturing to the new team, as with the previous members. “We look forward to the new and exciting ideas that you will bring to the table and your wise guidance, as we work together to build a Jamaica that is fit for all of our children,” she said.

Outgoing Chairperson, Charles Young, said serving on the panel, “has been the greatest contribution, not only of my life but for all the other outgoing CAP members”.

“We have experienced exponential growth and have been confronted by great opportunities to either further our career goals or develop social and leadership skills,” he noted.

New Chairperson, Meca-Gaye Francis, who is former secretary of the outgoing panel, said serving on CAP for two terms has helped to hone the skills, “that I fully intend to utilise in chairing the new panel”.

She noted that the new panel intends to visit and institute child-governed councils in various residential facilities based on suitability.

“These councils will serve as an extension of the panel and will better enable us to advocate on behalf of those we represent,” she said.