Media’s role in child protection emphasised at interactive forum

Sep 21, 2013 News

The role of the media was amplified yesterday when representatives of the Child Care and Protection Agency, the child protecting arm of the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, hosted an interactive forum.

UNICEF’s Representative, Marianne Flack

Officials of the Ministry, together with those of the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), were on hand to discuss with media operatives the importance of collaboration at the forum which was venued at the Bistro Restaurant situated at Middle and Waterloo Streets, Georgetown.
UNICEF’s recently appointed Guyana and Suriname Representative, Marianne Flack, asserted that “working effectively with the media is critical to our work as child protection advocates and advocates of children’s rights.”
She commended the move by the Child Care and Protection Agency to host an “open discussion” with local media representatives, which according to her, is an essential partner to discuss and reach consensus on how to contribute on maximising results for children.
She underscored that the basis for child protection is enshrined in the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) which Guyana ratified in 1991. And commendable is the progress Guyana had made thus far in meeting its international reporting obligations under the CRC, said Flack. She further reiterated UNICEF’s support to ensuring that all CRC recommendations are fully implemented.
Flack said that the establishment of the Child Care and Protection Agency and the establishment of a constitutional Commission on Children’s Rights (RCC) are extremely significant undertakings to ensure that child protection obligations are fulfilled.
“The Child Care and Protection Agency and the Rights of the Child Commission are invaluable partners in fulfilling such mandates to protect the rights of all children in Guyana,” said Flack, as she stressed that the media has a significant role in protecting the rights of children.
“You will agree that we need to join hands for child protection and the role is indispensable in this regard…The support of the media, including mass media and social media, is essential in turning the tide against all forms of violent exploitation and abuse against children,” highlighted Flack yesterday.

A section of the media practitioners in attendance yesterday

She pointed to the capacity of the media to reach diverse audiences and influence people’s attitudes and behaviours which can positively affect public, professional and political responses to the circumstances in which children and young people find themselves.
Although she lamented the poor attendance of the media, Human Services Minister, Jennifer Webster, emphasised that the local media has a very important role to play in the area of child protection. She noted though that the media has in fact paid close attention to some of the issues that “I would say are very sexy.”
According her, although children have the absolute right to be safe within Guyana, there are yet boys and girls of various ages, in every culture and at every social level, who face and experience varying forms of abuse including neglect, sexual exploitation, abuse, physical and humiliating punishments, harmful and traditional practices and child labour.
She noted that because Guyana is a signatory to the CRC, it is obligated, like other countries, throughout the world to ensure that “we protect our children and the media in Guyana can play a positive role.”
“I think that in media reporting here in Guyana a lot of emphasis is placed on the negatives and I want the media to see themselves as change agents working for the common good of our children; working to promote a better image of our children in Guyana,” underscored Minister Webster.
Apart from interactions with the media on the way forward, the forum, which was held under the theme ‘Joining hands for effective child protection services’, also saw Director of the Child Care and Protection Agency, Ann Greene, delivering a presentation on the state of child care in Guyana.