Webinar Cycle for the Caribbean Member States

Webinar Cycle for the Caribbean Member States

The first webinar of the cycle was developed on July 18. The topic addressed was violence against children and adolescents. The speakers were Heather Stewart (Child Protection Specialist, UNICEF office for the Eastern Caribbean Area), Sherwin ToyneStephenson (Programme Manager, Crime, Security and Protection, CARICOM secretariat) and Carol Daniel (President of the NGO Caribbean Development Foundation).

On July 9, the second webinar on mental health took place. The speakers were Ms. Faith Marshall Harris (Member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child), Dr. Tamu Davidson (Director NCDs and injuries Prevention, Caribbean Public Health Agency) and Mag. Daniel Claverie, Consultant, Rights Restitution of the IIN-OAS.

The webinars were joined by people from different parts of the Region such as: Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Jamaica, Dominica, Saint Lucia, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, Panama, Honduras, Ecuador, Paraguay, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Peru, United States and Brazil. People from Spain also joined the webinars.

The pandemic is placing many children and adolescents in the Caribbean Member States in jeopardy and this webinar cycle had the objective of providing Member States, public servants, NGOs and caregivers information and tools to work with the challenge of keeping children and adolescents safe from violence during and after the lockdown, as well as information and tools to make their mental health a priority during and after the lockdown measures.

A relevant idea that was exposed is that children and adolescents are in a historical pandemic as the effect of adultcentrism have been devastating for children, resulting in multiple rights violations.

Very interesting questions were asked about how to move forward with the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Speakers highlighted the importance of promoting intergenerational dialogue and listening to the voice of children and adolescents.

For more information, we recommend visiting the IIN-OAS´s website for the Caribbean States: www.redinteramericana.org