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| Chief Information Officer (Ag), Peter Greene, represents the Barbados Government Information Service, today, at the launch of the BGIS and UNICEF’s Poster/Essay Competitions on the rights of the child, while (left to right) Minister of Education and Human Resource Development, Ronald Jones, Officer in Charge, UNICEF Eastern Caribbean, Violet Speek-Warnery and Theresa Blackman, Information Officer listen attentively at UN Headquarters, Marine House, Hastings, Christ Church. (C.Pitt/BGIS) ?? |
The Barbados Government Information Service (BGIS) today pledged its support to aid the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child by bringing more awareness to Children’s Rights through the launch of an Essay and a Poster Competitions.
Chief Information Officer (Ag.), of the BGIS, Peter Greene, said "his organisation was fully committed to such a venture and looked forward to partnering with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to jointly launch two competitions – an Essay and a Poster Competition – on The Rights of the Child.
He was speaking this morning at the launch ceremony of the contests, at the United Nations (UN) House, Marine Gardens, Christ Church.
Explaining that UNICEF is the specialised UN agency set up specifically to work for and ensure children’s rights, their survival, their development and protection, the acting Chief Information Officer stated that the organisation is in the vanguard in the promotion and protection of children’s rights in over 150 countries worldwide, including this region, and right here in Barbados.
"…Barbados has certainly been a leader, among the developing world, in embracing and working alongside UNICEF.?? As this country celebrates some 21 years as a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was also later ratified by our Parliament in the early 1990s.?? That is a milestone that we should all be proud of as a small, developing nation," he underscored.
While expressing the timeliness of these competitions, Mr. Greene pointed out that it was no mere coincidence that they come on the heels of the recent observance of International Literacy Day, which was promoted by a sister UN agency, UNESCO.?? He said:?? "That event sought to inculcate the obvious virtues of reading, and by extension literacy and its several benefits to a person and his or her society and their development."
Meanwhile, Officer-in-Charge of the UNICEF Eastern Caribbean, Violet Speek-Warnery, told those in attendance that the Essay and Poster Competitions would seek to bring more prominence to the UN Convention on Children’s Rights and it was heartening to see the two organisations taking the lead in such a worthwhile cause.??