Charge of wandering against youths still to be struck from law-books - RCC

Charge of wandering against youths still to be struck from law-books – RCC

Aug 29, 2018 News

Despite legislative moves to outlaw the charge of wandering against youths, the Rights of the Child Commission [RCC] is still awaiting its full implementation.
This is according to RCC Chairperson, Ms. Aleema Nasir, who at a recent press conference said, “this is yet to be put in place as children are still in there – in the holding centres and the New Opportunity Corp [NOC] who were charged for wandering.”
Moreover, Nasir said that the RCC is optimistic that “very soon this will be removed and those children will be released and will be able to get back into society.”

RCC officials in the company of Youth Ambassadors

As such Nasir said that the RCC has been working in close collaboration with those responsible for bringing the Juvenile Justice Bill to fruition even as she singled out Ms. Rosemary Benjamin-Noble as the key person within the Commission who gave input to the legislation. “It is very critical, if you study that piece of legislation, you would see that up until now, children were charged for wandering but wandering has been removed as a crime. So children who are caught wandering [now] will no longer be charged,” said Nasir as she anticipated that those in confinement will also soon reap the benefits of the enactment of the Juvenile Justice Bill. The Bill was passed in April during the 87th sitting of the National Assembly.
Even as he stressed the importance of RCC in helping youths to realise their true potential, RCC’s Chief Executive Officer [CEO], Amarnauth Panday said, “We need to show trust…that is a necessity for youth empowerment in Guyana. If a child, a young person [comes] from whatever background, from whatever condition, we need to inspire and show trust.”
Moreover, the RCC has been offering critical training programmes to institutions the likes of the NOC, which has been aimed at not only helping the staff but more importantly the students there to strive for excellence. Support in this regard has even seen students of the NOC becoming eligible to participate in the recently concluded Youth Parliament with distinction too.
As part of its continued advocacy for youths, the RCC has been visiting children’s homes, with the Aruni Children’s Home being the most recent visited, according to Nasir. The Aruni Children’s Home is a facility that accommodates displaced girls.
Such visits, Nasir disclosed, is facilitated through the investigative sub-committee of the RCC, which she said, “has been doing critical work. We have been visiting the children’s homes in Guyana, not only in Georgetown, but elsewhere too.”
During the recent visit, Nasir said, “we saw children who are taken away from their homes because of abuse…it is very distressing to see these children at very young ages going through such traumatic experiences.”
Nasir’s remarks were forthcoming even as she spoke glowingly of the Commission’s Youth Ambassadorship Programme [YAP]. “We have some very bright and vibrant ambassadors who have been and will [continue] to support our work,” Nasir shared.
The RCC Chairperson is convinced that these youth ambassadors, who hail from various communities throughout Guyana, will be able to return to their respective communities and play a critical role by engaging other youths to help make a difference.
RCC, some four years ago, created its YAP. The recent hosting of the programme in Iwokrama saw the participation of some 40 youths who were exposed to empowering activities aimed at helping them to become rounded individuals.

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