ChildLink sets out to be the voice of children

Feb 11, 2010 News

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Every Child Guyana, which is an independent entity, launched a new organisation called ChildLink at the National Library, yesterday.
The organisation gears for a Guyanese society where every child has the right to grow up in a safe and secure family and community.
Present at the launching were UNICEF deputy representative, Rudigar Luchman; Country Director Omattie Madray; Chairman of ChildLink Nigel Hawke; Vice Chairman of ChildLink Errol Chapman; CEO of Every Child (UK) Ms. Anna Feuchtwang and other distinguished guests.
The hallmark of the programme has been the introduction of the rights based approached to children’s development, giving children a voice.
Country Director, Omattie Madray, said that the first five years of the Every Child Guyana’s work was carried out mainly in Agricola and East La Penitence under the name Christian Child’s Fund of Great Britain.
The programme started in 1995 and up to 2000 provided direct aid to children, which included hot meals, school uniforms and other help to poor families.
The Agricola project works with children, caregivers and teachers to recognize and respond to violence and abuse and the foster care project which address de-institutionalisation of children, placing children who do not have families and have been living in orphanages with foster families and giving them a chance to grow up with parental care.
She explained that during the 2000 – 2007 period Every Child Guyana developed new initiatives with the aim of providing quality services rather than giving aids, while it was realized that children are growing up without parental care mainly as a result of violence and family breakdown.
There are other contributing factors that include migration and HIV/AIDS.
However, there are over 600 children living in more than 20 children institutions/orphanages and this is mainly because they have been violated or the disintegration of their families.
She said that the Guyana programme over the past three years has therefore developed stronger initiatives to stop violence against children, strengthening existing mechanisms at government and non-governmental level as well as community based initiatives
She further explained the projects include the OneLife project that provides psychosocial interventions for children living with and affected by HIV/AIDS and other vulnerable children.
This project is delivered in partnership with Dorothy Bailey Municipal Centre and Ministry of Human Services and Social Security.
The Pickney Project was developed in partnership with Help and Shelter and strengthens community mechanisms to ensure the protection of children.
She said the entity inherited is quite positive and would have worked with over 500 parents/caregivers, over 6000 children received services, over 100 faith based leaders and professionals.
According to Chief Executive EveryChild UK Anna Feuchtwang, there are at least 24 million children who don’t have parental care.
While one per cent of the world’s children are without parental care and living in orphanages, and some are living on the streets in many of the world’s cities, and working as domestic servants or in the sex industry, or are in prisons, and some of them are looking after themselves in child-headed households.
She said the growing number of children without parental care has worrying implications for efforts to achieve the rights outlined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to which Guyana is a signatory.
The Chief Executive noted a loss of parental care has a devastating impact on children’s physical, psychological and social development and on their sense of identity.
“One child from Guyana told us “Parents are poor. They leave their children in an orphanage because they can’t afford it.” She said.
She added that EveryChild has been encouraging its branch offices to become national NGOs in their own right.
“We are doing this because we believe that we have a responsibility to support local organisations to achieve social development and that this needs to be owned by citizens in their own countries.”
The Chairman of Child Link Nigel Hawke said Child Link is a national institution advocating the rights of the child.
He added that the entity being a new one would like to partner with every organisation to spread the knowledge in communities, churches, temples and mosques.
The UNICEF deputy representative, Rudigar Luchman, said that UNICEF values the partnership and is hoping that a larger network be formed since all the angles and Guyana needs to be covered to promote a safe childhood.
“A safe childhood should not be a dream it should be a right” he said.
(Rabindra Rooplall)

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