by Charles Gladden

BELIZE CITY, Fri. July 26, 2024

The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), along with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Government of Belize through the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Human Development, held its National Preparatory Session (NPS) on Friday, July 26, in Belize City, in preparation for the Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children.

The NPS serves as a build-up to the Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children held from November 6 to 7 in Bogota, Colombia. It is a first of its kind as it focuses on bringing stakeholders at the policy level to end violence against children within Latin America and the Caribbean region.

At Friday’s conference, Alison Parker, UNICEF Representative for Belize, highlighted that children between the ages of 1 and 4 years old have the highest level of physical violence in Belize. She noted that the Global Ministerial Conference is a reminder for those participating countries.

“Every one of these nation-states has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child; and so it is bringing us all to the table of accountability to remind us of those commitments we made as governments and development partners, to ensure that we can deliver on that commitment we made over 35 years ago to ensure that children can grow up in a safe and natural environment, that can enable them to become productive citizens in the future,” Parker said.

Melissa Diaz-Musa, Director of Public Health and Wellness for the Ministry of Health, mentioned that they had been informed about the NPS for several weeks, and the Ministry of Human Development has been the leading ministry to end violence against children.

“It is an honor for us to be a part of this initiative because it’s crucial for us as a country. We’ve made many successes in terms of the violence against children; and when it comes to the health perspectives, areas like removal of fees at the public health facilities, ensuring good vaccination uptake reduces children’s illnesses and diseases, improving and integrating mental health care and prenatal care,” she said.

The Global Ministerial Conference is organized by the Government of Colombia, the Government of Sweden, the Office of the Special Representative of the Sector General on ending violence against children, and PAHO/WHO.