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Rights of the Child Commission yet to meet

Aug 20, 2009 News

– Three months after swearing-in ceremony

Three months after 13 persons were sworn in to serve on the Rights of the Child Commission, the body is yet to have its first meeting and the Commissioners are at a loss as to who has to call the first meeting.
Those who Kaieteur News spoke with said they had no idea who was responsible for calling the first meeting. The Commissioners were sworn-in by President Bharrat Jagdeo on May 08.
The first meeting has to be called to elect the Chairperson and the Deputy Chairperson.
Further, one of the Commissioners noted that the constitution says that the Secretariat for the Human Rights Commission will serve as the secretariat for the Rights of the Child, Indigenous, and the Gender Equality Commissions, but there is no Human Rights commission as yet.
The four commissions are constitutional commissions agreed to by Parliament for the “promotion and enhancement of the fundamental rights and the rule of law.”
The Office of the President was responsible for swearing-in the members of the Commission, but several inquiries made by Kaieteur News to that office for information regarding the holding of the first meeting of the Commission proved futile. According to the Constitution, the Rights of the Child Commission reports to the National Assembly, and is responsible for providing an annual report “as soon as practicable after the end of each year of its operation.” Contacted, the Clerk of the National Assembly, Sherwood Isaacs said the Parliament Office was not responsible for calling the first meeting of the Commission.
When the Commissioners were sworn-in President Jagdeo impressed upon them the importance of their task, since they “deal with the future of this country.”
The Commissioners of the Rights of the Child Commission are Kaloutie Nauth and Yvonne Fox (representing Service organisations); Kwame McCoy (representing the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security); Vidyaratha Kissoon; Sarojanie Rambarran, Aleema Nasir, and Colleen Anthony (representing religious organisations); Marissa Massiah, Michelle Kalamandeen and Suelle Findlay-Williams (representing youth organisations) Sandra Hooper, Rosemary Benjamin-Noble (representing women’s organisations); Hyacinth Massay (other); Banmattie Ram from the Ministry of Education; Shirley Ferguson, representing the National Commission on the Rights of the Child.
The legislation that supports the setting up of the Rights of the Child Commission, stipulated that the Commission’s functions would be to promote initiatives that “reflect and enhance the well-being and rights of the child.”
The Commission is tasked with ensuring that the rights and interests of children are taken into account at all levels of Government, other public bodies and private organisations when decisions and policies affecting children are taken.

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