President Kangaloo: Never give up on children's rights

PRESIDENT Christine Kangaloo said the region cannot ever give up on children’s right to grow up in a spirit of peace, dignity, tolerance, freedom, equality and solidarity.

She was speaking at the Caribbean Regional Conference of the International Society of Family Law, themed The Convention on the Rights of the Child at 35 years – A Promise Kept or A Dream Deferred, on November 13 at the Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre, St Ann's.

The conference ran from November 13-15.

Kangaloo said it was clear that everyone present possessed a profound commitment to securing the wellbeing of children, the most precious resource.

“Every single one of you comes from a nation which has signalled its commitment in this regard by signing or ratifying the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Despite the diversity in our legal systems, cultures, and social contexts, you are united today by a common cause: to protect and promote the rights of children.”

She said the conference, which was attended by legal practitioners, doctors, social workers, researchers and other professionals from over 50 countries, was the perfect setting, for not only the ventilation and exchange of best practices and innovative ideas, but also for the generation of new insights and strategies for addressing the most pressing issues confronting children’s rights today.

“I am optimistic that, as you engage in these important discussions, you will gain clearer sight of the finish line, which is a world in which the rights of all children are universally respected and protected. A world in which the rights of children are no longer 'a dream deferred,' but rather, 'a promise kept.'"

She said while the timeline for realising the vision was still uncertain, the work done in the conference would bring the region closer to the goal.

Kangaloo said optimism was essential in advancing the universal, inalienable and indivisible rights of children.

“The alternative is to despair and descend into desperation, neither of which is helpful. That is not to say that one should be optimistic for optimism’s sake. But it does mean that one should try to search for the light when one feels, as all of us do from time to time, that all that there is, is the darkness.

“We can’t ever give up on our children’s right to grow up in a spirit of peace, dignity, tolerance, freedom, equality and solidarity. We have to find ways and means to secure for them the right to do so, and we have to go further and create the conditions in which that right can be fully exercised.”

She said those present acknowledged the challenges in advancing the rights of the child in a meaningful way and refused to give up the struggle to do so.

“This conference, and indeed, all of you, are the bearers of the region’s collective torch, as together, we pierce the darkness and hold high the lamp on the path to our children’s fullest self-actualisation. You are a source of justifiable optimism that we will get there, sooner than later. Yours is the challenge, over the next few days, to contribute to our region inching further away from ‘a dream deferred,' and closer towards ‘a promise kept.’”

Kangaloo wished the participants the best of luck in grappling with the issues and the institutional challenges that face the region as it tried, collectively, to move closer to the latter.

“I wish you a productive, insightful conference that, like a tree planted by streams of water, yields fruit in due season, and whose leaves do not wither.”