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OECS to Address Imbalances in Child Development Programmes
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OECS to Address Imbalances in Child Development Programmes
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Thursday, July
04, 1996
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Representatives of government and non-governmental agencies from St. Lucia and
neighbouring Windward Islands, Tuesday, July 3, 2001 ended a one
day-consultation here that sought to address the many imbalances in the delivery
of developmental programmes pertaining to children, over the past ten years. Sponsored
by the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), the Windward Islands Consultation
sought to arrive at consensus on the major issues affecting children in the
Eastern Caribbean sub-region and to spell out guidelines in dealing with them. St.
Lucia’s Planning Minister, the Honourable Dr. Walter Francois, lamented the
fact that too few planning initiatives included children, who he says, represent
the critical mass of future human development.
“We often over concentrate on the macro-economic indicators of development, making them issues central to global survival and treat the holistic development of the child in a peripheral way. There is more than enough evidence around us to suggest that this approach does not work and results in many children finding themselves in exceptionally difficult circumstances,” said Francois. He
says several of the region’s children remained in these exceptionally
difficult circumstances. These included struggles for the right to basic
education, assistance and support to victims of domestic violence, rape, incest
and sexual harassment and improved protection. Future
development strategies, he urged his audience, would need to reflect the current
global circumstances and take into account the future global outlook. Given the
dwindling support for preferential trading arrangements, Dr. Francois expressed
the view that children will be among those most adversely affected. The
relationship between children and poverty, he says, also needs to be factored
into the equation. Tuesday’s activity formed part of build-up towards a final strategy meeting in October when the objectives and strategies of the multi-country programme will be discussed. |
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