‘Spend time with your children’- Dr. Persaud urges in safeguard of children’s rights

“Spending time with your child is very important, from the time of birth bonding happens and that bond must last for the rest of the lives of the parents and children that bond is made stronger when a child feels comfortable in confiding to their parents,” Dr Persaud posited.

However, she explained that the ministry exists to help parents with ensuring that they are equipped to protect their children. She said through partnership between the ministry, families and the other relevant stakeholders, every child in Guyana can become protected and taken care of.

Her sentiments were shared by the UNICEF Deputy Representative for Guyana and Suriname, Irfan Akhtar. According to Akhtar, public awareness of all the programme and hotlines available for the protection of children is necessary.

“This is important to ensure that every child is protected, every child is respected and every child is an environment which is free from fear and violence.

“We know that we cannot ensure the protection of children alone, we need a multi-sectoral approach and we need a partnership with the different sectors,” Akhtar said.

The massive campaign dubbed was launched in 2021 as part of efforts to curb the high number of reported child abuse cases. It has expanded to target child labour, abuse of children in every form and ensuring parents, guardians and the public are aware of the dangerous consequences abuse have on the development of children.