KINGSTON, Jamaica – The Jamaica government has approved the National Plan of Action for an Integrated Response to Children and Violence (NPACV) in response to its commitment made to the Global Partnership to end violence against children.
Dr. Grace McLean, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, said recently the plan, to be implemented over a five-year period, has also been tabled in the Parliament.
She told the plenary session for the eighth Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference that the aim of the plan is to create and maintain a protective environment supportive of and responsive to the issues of violence, child abuse and maltreatment of children in Jamaica.
“What this means is that, for the first time, we have a comprehensive response, an inter-sectoral response to treating with violence against children,” McLean said.
COLLABORATION
The plan involves collaboration among several stakeholders, including government ministries, agencies and departments and civil society groups.
The core objective of the NPACV is to reduce the impact of violence against children through an integrated approach to prevention, control, intervention responses, monitoring and evaluation. This aim is to ensure that the rights of children are preserved, and that an environment is created to stimulate their positive growth and development into productive citizens of Jamaica.
The Diaspora Conference was hosted last month here by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade under the theme “Jamaica and the Diaspora: Building Pathways for Sustainable Development”.
SUPPORT
Meanwhile, the government said it is lobbying the support of Jamaicans living overseas for the establishment of proposed Global Jamaica Diaspora and Global Jamaica Youth Councils.Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister Kamina Johnson Smith said the Global Jamaica Diaspora Council is intended to be an expanded and inclusive body with a wide membership of individuals “who hold Jamaica at the forefront of their voluntary efforts.”
She also said that not only will the Council “ease the burden” placed on the Diaspora Advisory Board, “but it will allow for greater inclusivity of Jamaicans living afar in lands across the oceans” and is intended to have members from six regions not currently represented on the board. These are Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe and the Middle East.
“This way we ensure that in diasporic regions, which are real but are not as yet organized, they will have an opportunity to engage with us directly and to learn from colleagues who are more organized,” the minister explained.
According to her, efforts will also be made to ensure that wide-ranging sector interests are represented,These include health; education; arts, sports and culture; faith-based institutions; citizen security; commerce, and development.
