Special Representative of the Secretary General on Violence Against Children, (SRSG on VAC), Marta Santos Pais, promoted a Cross-Regional Round Table on the prevention of violence in early childhood on June 30 and July 1 2014, hosted by the Government of Jamaica in co-operation with UNICEF. Representatives from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Council of the Baltic States, the Council of Europe, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the League of Arab States, MERCOSUR and the Latin-American and Caribbean Movement for Children (MMILAC) participated in in this meeting which celebrated the 25th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the 5th anniversary of the UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children.
The group met to assess progress achieved in the implementation of the recommendations of the UN Study on Violence against Children in their respective regions and to reinforce co-operation in the prevention and elimination of violence against children, in particular in early childhood. Among the conclusions and recommendations reached at this Cross-Regional Meeting, were the regional organisations’ commitment to stress the importance of further promoting the ratification and implementation of key international legal instruments, in particular the Convention of the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols; recognize the importance of including violence in early childhood as a key concern in policy and legal frameworks at national, regional and international levels; and to cooperate in the promotion of strategic initiatives to support investment in Early Childhood development, prevention of violence against children and domestic violence and support to positive parenting.
In addition, the group agreed to promote policies and initiatives aimed at supporting families and caregivers in their child-rearing responsibilities, including through responsive national social protection and child protection systems to strengthen families’ capacity to raise young children in a safe, caring and loving environment, to prevent child abandonment and placement in residential care, and to promote the social inclusion of all young children, in particular those at special risk.
