MINISTER of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge, says that the Government of Guyana remains fully committed to its partnership with UNICEF as, together, much has been accomplished in protecting the rights of children.

He made these remarks on Thursday during the Annual Review of the 2018 joint annual work plan of UNICEF and Guyana, hosted at the Marriott Hotel. With the help of UNICEF, Greenidge said that a considerable number of measures and programmes have been implemented, while several others are now being considered.

Some of these he listed were the approved Juvenile Justice Act in 2018; the adoption of a reintegration policy for teen moms back in school, and the adoption of a policy to prevent and eliminate child labour, among others.

Others include the establishment of ‘One Stop Centre’ for victims of child sexual abuse, and supporting advocacies for achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“The Government of Guyana is pleased with the achievements made and remains committed to the protection and provision of a good life for all Guyanese, and more specifically, to our children; the future generation which the government endeavors to protect and nurture through the implementation of policies and programmes to safeguard their future and the future of Guyana,” Greenidge said.

He added that the Government of Guyana has been consolidating the legal architecture for comprehensive child protection and family law, through the passage of a number of pieces of legislations.

These include the Status of Children Act; the Child Protection Act; the Adoption of Children Act; the Sexual Offences Act; the Custody, Contact, Guardianship and Maintenance Act; Countering Persons in Trafficking Act and the National Childcare Labour policy.
However, the foreign affairs minister noted that realities such as domestic violence, abuse, alcoholism, poverty, poor infrastructure and emotional trauma, continue to threaten the social, physical, emotional and mental well-being of Guyana’s children.

As such, he urged: “We must all, as government and partners, stakeholder and others, work earnestly to eradicate these ills from our societies. Needless to say, government has a key role to play in this process and for that reason it is critical for us to make progress towards the achievement of these goals.”

For 2018, UNICEF expended at total of US$1.1M.

2019 marks the third year of UNICEF’s five-year programme of corporation in Guyana. In the past three years, the government and UNICEF worked along in the components of lifelong learning; safety and justice; monitoring and evaluation; adolescent development; emergency, and more.

In her remarks to the audience, UNICEF Guyana and Suriname Representative, Sylvie Fouet, highlighted its accomplishments over the year in collaboration with the Government of Guyana.

These, she stated, were the movement towards restorative justice in Guyana; the operationalisation of the Children’s court; the expansion of early childhood development health services, advancements to combat bullying in schools and others.

“Together …we can co-create solutions for increased results for children; build deeper partnerships [between UNICEF and the government] and also with and for teenagers and young people, and engage with the private sector,” Fouet said.

While the stakeholders involved do not have all the answers, she stated the work must continue to ensure every child’s right to health, education, protection and participation while leaving no one behind.

At the day’s session, stakeholders were also able to discuss the challenges and successes of 2018 and address possible changes moving forward. UNICEF signed its first five-year programme with Guyana in 1994 and has continued since then to ensure that the rights of children in Guyana are respected.