Create Systems of Protection Around Children

Jamaicans are being charged to create systems of protection and care around the nation’s children, so that harm does not befall them.

Children’s Advocate, Diahann Gordon Harrison, made the call as she addressed the National Child Month Committee (NCMC) media launch of Child Month 2023 on Wednesday (April 19) at the GraceKennedy Corporate Offices, downtown Kingston.

“It should be a thing in the past, for instance, where a child confides in a parent or a caregiver that something has gone wrong, and out of loyalty to the perpetrator we urge that child to be quiet because ‘this too shall pass’,” she said. “It is we who need to respond in a bid to protect and reassure the children if and when, regrettably, those systems are breached,” she pointed out.

Child Month will be observed in May under the theme ‘Children Need our Love and Protection…Get Involved’. Assistant Chief Education Officer (Acting) in the Guidance and Counselling Unit, Ministry of Education and Youth, Kennedy Davidson, said that this year’s theme is a call for all Jamaicans to consciously recommit to protecting and caring for children.

“It is a call for us to ensure that our children access and benefit from educational offerings and programmes geared at improving not just their academic outcomes but their holistic development,” she said. “It is also a reminder to all of us that for the achievements of Vision 2030, our children must be affirmed, our love for them must be actionised, and it must be seen and felt in our homes, our churches, our schools, and our communities”, she added. Activities for Child Month 2023 are scheduled to start on Sunday, May 7 with a national church service at the Wesley Mount Methodist Church in Williamsfield, Manchester, starting at 10:30 a.m.

Churches across the island are being encouraged to allow the first Saturday and Sunday service in May to be children-centred and where possible, to have the youngsters actively involved.

National Children’s Day will be observed on Friday, May 19. The public is being asked to wear sunshine yellow on the day. The Apostolic Faith Church at Waterloo in Santa Cruz, St. Elizabeth, will host a National Day of Prayer for Children on Wednesday, May 24. Care packages will be distributed to approximately 300 needy families across the island on Tuesday, May 30. Main sponsors for Child Month 2023 are GraceKennedy Group and National Baking Company Foundation. Other sponsors include the Ministry of Education and Youth, Caribbean Broilers (CB) Group and Scotia Foundation.