May is child’s month, and it is important that we express and make manifest our continued commitment and support towards our children. Let me take time out to thank the organizations, whose mandate it is to take care for and protect the nation’s children.
They are often battered however those of us who have children would know that it is not an easy task. We know how difficult it is to establish the priority given the restraints and constraints that we have. We are convince that there are actually there doing a little labour of love and the majority of them do have the concerns of our children.
At the same time we call on every Jamaican to take our collective responsibility seriously and that is of being protector, provider, defender, and caregiver to all our children. Today’s children are all our responsibility and we have to deal with that carefully.
I am sure many of you would have listened to the Prime Minister’s contribution to the budget debate, and her pledge to “intensify our efforts to bring perpetrators of these heinous crimes against our children to book." She has promised tougher laws to help protect our children against incest and sexual abuse.
She has promised that the current laws will be amended to allow for perpetrators who murder our children, especially those who do so knowing that they are pregnant for them to receive even longer sentences than currently exist.
Colleagues, this is further indication that this government is taking a zero tolerance stance in general against crime and violence as it relates to our children.
On Saturday, Saturday May 2, 2015, the KSAC along with some of our partners staged a march, to call awareness to the plight of our children and to pledge our commitment to care for and protect our children. For too long too many persons have pretended not to see what’s happening to our children: in their homes, in the community, at church, and at school.
Too many individuals acknowledge, after the fact that they “knew something was wrong”; too many are able to point to the signs of distress after the death of the child. If we see something going wrong we must say something. It’s time to speak up and speak out in defense of our children.
The turnout for this our first Children’s Rally (which is what it turned out to be) was inspiring. I must admit I was moved by the turnout, passion and participation of all of those who came out to walk with us. I want to thank Minister Hanna, SDC, CDA, CISOCA, Hear the Children Cry, Office of the Children’s Registry, JFJ, the Eastern Conference of SDA, Scotia Foundation, and many other partners, stakeholders, staff and supporters for making the event a success.
A very special thanks to the children who marched, sang and spoke out making this event the experience that it was.