WIN demands urgent review of child protection systems

Mar 03, 2026 News

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…amid teen mothers tragedies

(Kaieteur News) – Political party We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) is calling for an immediate, independent review of Guyana’s child protection system following two harrowing cases involving teenage mothers that have exposed critical gaps in the nation’s safeguards for vulnerable children. The party insists that public disclosure of child protection response protocols, particularly in cases involving teenage mothers and high-risk minors, is long overdue. The call follows a letter by former Childcare and Protection Agency (CPA) Director Ann Greene, who highlighted institutional weaknesses after reports surfaced that two teenage mothers recently gave birth at public hospitals without adequate intervention.

This publication recently reported two tragedies involving teen moms: 14-year-old Aleena Preetam of Essequibo Coast, Region Two, was found dead in her bedroom on February 23. The teen had recently dropped out of school after being transferred to another institution when she discovered she was pregnant. She died some one-month after giving birth.

A post mortem examination revealed that the teen died from heart failure and anemia.  On February 24, 15-year-old Tiana Chapman of Pepper Street, Edinburg Village, East Bank Berbice, was stabbed 25 times by her child’s father, in Berbice. The teen’s lungs have been punctured and doctors have told relatives that “she is critical but stable.”

Greene, a retired Chief Probation and Welfare Officer in a letter published on Sunday, raised concerns after reports surfaced that two teenage mothers reportedly gave birth at a public hospital, questioning the intervention and response from child protection services.

She said, “The tragedies of the 14 and 15-year-old mothers are causing me anguish. I would really like to know what the response of the Childcare & Protection Agency in these cases was. The age of consent for sexual activity is sixteen years, so any fifteen-year-old or 14-year-old delivering a baby the medical officers are bound by the Child Protection Laws to report the matter to the agency, who must intervene for the protection of the children and babies and bring the perpetrators to justice.”

She stressed that protection involves children being taken into safe places with the babies for care while the cases are being investigated. “If adult perpetrators are involved, they must be charged for statutory rape. In care, both mother and baby would be cared for by the state and continuation of school would have been a must,” Greene noted.

In a statement Monday, WIN said Greene’s warning cannot be dismissed as partisan commentary, noting that her assessment comes from a professional who once led the very institution now under scrutiny. The party argued that the issues point to deeper institutional weaknesses within the CPA and Probation and Social Services. WIN said that if those weaknesses are not urgently addressed, vulnerable children could remain at risk. The party placed responsibility squarely on the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, which is headed by Minister Vindhya Persaud, stating that the ministry bears ultimate responsibility for ensuring that systems designed to protect children function effectively.

WIN stated, “When teenage pregnancies intersect with poverty, abuse risk, and social vulnerability, intervention must always be mandatory.” It outlined that the ministry exists to protect the vulnerable and if structural weaknesses are undermining that mandate, they must be corrected immediately, not deflected.

Further, WIN said it must be seen as unacceptable that reports continue of children giving birth without comprehensive protective assessment and follow-up, stressing child-protection obligation. WIN called for an urgent independent operational review of the Childcare and Protection Agency and Probation and Social Services, and a status report on disability grant backlogs and domestic violence case processing times.

WIN also wants a corrective action plan with measurable timelines. “When experienced former leadership publicly signals distress about the condition of the agency, immediate and transparent action must be the response,” the party said. WIN also pointed to what it described as growing complaints in recent months, including inadequate responses to domestic violence reports, overburdened social workers, and eligible persons with disabilities allegedly being left off the disability grant register.

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• Aleena Preetam, Child Protection, Tiana Chapman, We Invest in Nationhood

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