The Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVC) has partnered with Jamaicans For Justice (JFJ) to execute activities under the European Union funded Advocating for Justice Project. The two-year project, which began implementation in 2018, seeks to reduce structural barriers to access to justice and improving judicial outcomes for marginalized groups.
To date a number of activities have been implemented including two Child Protection Workshops and a Child Protection Seminar aimed at building the capacity of duty bearers to recognize and respond to violations against the rights of children and young people. . The two (2) one-day Child Protection Workshops saw over 128 duty bearers including 38 Justices of the Peace, in addition to some 90 teachers, guidance counsellors and social workers attending. The participants were introduced to child rights with a focus on international and national laws which are designed to protect children. Issues surrounding stakeholders’ duty to report; how to report, the offences often perpetrated against children, and how to protect against them, were also extensively explored. The sessions also emphasized recognizing children as members of vulnerable groups and especially children who are members of more marginalized groups, such as children with disabilities, children from inner city communities, children living HIV and LGBT youth.
CVC Executive Director, Ivan Cruickshank noted that the workshops were critical to achieving a major objective under the Advocating for Justice Project. “One of the commitments we made when we embarked on this project was to conduct targeted advocacy, sensitization and training sessions with various stakeholders, in a bid to improve access to justice for marginalized persons. This therefore is a crucial first step in getting these duty bearers to realise where there may be gaps in the system and how these gaps can be addressed,” he said.
One objective of the Child Protection workshop was to identify how Justices of the Peace and other justice stakeholders could intervene early or use alternative justice approaches to respond to rights violations affecting children. The focus on these individuals was out of a recognition that they more often were the first point of contact in communities and were well placed to provide remediation and other justice support to victims of rights violations. They were also frequently called upon to intervene in criminal matters that involve children and the police.
“We targeted these individuals because we know that once sensitized about the issues preventing marginalised groups from accessing justice, they can make a huge difference. The workshops revealed that although the majority of participants work closely with children, most did not understand or appreciate child rights. There’s still that perception that children must be seen but not heard, so we know that some work needs to be done to better address that. However, it was very good to see that the younger participants were more appreciative of a rights-based approach to child development, which will in turn facilitate more child participation in the decision-making process. But, overall, the sessions were well-received and participants’ reviews indicated that training in child protection should be mandated as part of the curriculum for teachers and must be introduced to persons who work directly with children on a day-to-day”, Cruickshank said.
The Child Protection workshops were followed up with a Child Protection Seminar which had 173 persons in attendance. Along with some 43 Justices of the Peace who participated there were over 60 representatives from various organizations within the justice sector, 26 educators and 44 childcare professionals. The seminar focused primarily on building their capacity to understand, identify and respond to children in need of care and protection and educating them aboutthe standards and obligations pertinent to their work while.