CHILD Protection Week 2013, themed: “Joining Hands For Effective Child Protection Services” is to be observed from tomorrow to September 28.

This 10th annual observance is dedicated to raising the level of awareness on issues affecting children in Guyana,  under the adage: “It takes a village to raise a child,” officers of the Child Care and Protection Agency (CC&PA) of the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security said.
The CC&PA is the state apparatus that has implemented a number of laws, policies, programmes and initiatives for the protection of children.
However, officials concede that there is a major gap in the system and emphasised that keeping children safe is not only the agency’s business, but that of everyone.
“We must remove this gap, this notion of any one individual, organisation or public agency being held responsible for keeping our children safe,” they acknowledged.
To bridge this gap, the CC&PA is working, assiduously, to engage communities and establish essential civil society partnerships to better serve children and families, hence the theme.

GREATER INVOLVEMENT
They agree that keeping children safe requires greater involvement, cooperation and care from parents, extended families, community members, non-governmental and  governmental organisations, schools and health care providers.
The officials took the opportunity to once again issue a reminder to all parents, guardians and care-givers of their roles and responsibilities in ensuring that these rights are  attainable by every child in Guyana regardless of, among other things, that child’s status or where he or she lives.
Every segment of society must be on board, they insist,  pointing out that several outreach activities are planned for the week, including a road march and rally on ‘breaking the silence on childhood sexual abuse.’
Programmes will be executed in all 10 administrative regions, to remind individuals, community members and local groups, including religious communities, of the civil and moral responsibility to be part of the solution for children in need of protection.
Child Protection Officers will conduct outreach sessions to provide information on what every individual can do to help keep children safe.
Further details are to be released later, as the CC&PA extends an invitation to all Guyanese to join in reinforcing the stand against the abuse of children.
“We urge that persons stand up, speak out and be part of the solution. Silence is not the answer,” the CC&PA said.