St. Maarten delegation (from left): Support team member Michnella Eugenio; Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport Acting Secretary-General Shermina Powell-Richardson; Minister Jorien Wuite; St. Maarten Youth Council President Connie Francis-Gumbs; St. Maarten Youth Parliament President Kamilia Gumbs; Opvoedambassadeur and VSA Ministry senior policy execution officer Erick van Arneman.
PHILIPSBURG--Minister of Social Development, Labour and Wellbeing in Curaçao Hensley Koeiman hosted the Kingdom Conference on Children Rights under the theme “Samen Kómen, Samen Bliíven, Samen Wérken” May 14-16 with the special theme “Participation as a shared responsibility.”
This reoccurring conference is organised by the Children’s Rights Kingdom Taskforce on which St. Maarten is represented by Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport/Head of Youth Affairs Acting Secretary-General Shermina Powell-Richardson.
St. Maarten’s delegation consisted of Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport Jorien Wuite as delegation leader; Opvoedambassadeur and Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour VSA Senior Policy Execution Officer Erick van Arneman; St. Maarten Youth Parliament President Kamila Gumbs; St. Maarten Youth Council President Connie Francis-Gumbs; Powell-Richardson; and support staff.
Van Arneman, the appointed “Opvoed Ambassadeur” for Children Rights in St. Maarten, highlighted, “We have to continue to be active parents and encourage teachers to listen to the students, allowing them to express their feelings and involve them in problem-solving.
"The conference encouraged us as caregivers to show more love and compassion to our youngsters. The St. Maarten team committed to a renewed action plan with a revised Active Parenting Programme, encouragement to other schools to implement these programmes and the possibility to make it mandatory to all schools upon registration of students,” according to a release from the ministry on Thursday.
Wuite participated in the special session for Ministers and other official representatives of public entities with the objective to intensify (political) commitment of Kingdom countries.
“As Minister I participated, encouraged and supported the development of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the aim to improve children’s rights within the kingdom as the UNICEF reports of 2013 highlighted various sensitive conclusions and urgent recommendations that justified the institution of the Children Rights Taskforce in 2014.
“I congratulate colleague Minister Hensley Koeiman for the successful conference and thank Shermina Powell-Richardson and the other members of the delegation for their active participation and collaboration,” said Wuite.
The Declaration of Intent was signed by Job Tanis on behalf of Secretary of State for Health, Welfare and Sport of the Netherlands Paul Blokhuis; Minister of Social Affairs and Labour of Aruba Glenbert Croes; Koeiman; Wuite; Deputy for Society and Care of Bonaire Edsel Cecillia; Saba’s Lieutenant Governor Jonathan Johnson; and Carol Jack on behalf of Government Commissioner of St. Eustatius Marcolino (Mike) Franco on the last day of the conference, with the aim to conclude the MOU in 2 months.
Members of the Kingdom Taskforce as well as the various “Opvoed Ambassadeurs“ met with the organisation team for a debriefing session the day after to give a quick reflection regarding the three-day conference. There was an overall consensus that the Taskforce had accomplished a major milestone with the Ministers charged with children’s rights having signed a document of intent outlining key areas of shared responsibilities.
Powell-Richardson said it had been agreed that each country would further develop the action plans presented at the Conference and that these plans should clearly outline the budget of the individual country, but also, more specifically, the cost related to common activities under the umbrella of the Taskforce.
“Regarding the way forward, it was decided that further discussions were necessary before concluding which country would take up the chairmanship and secretariat for the coming year as well as which country would host the next conference,” Powell-Richardson said.
The next video conference of the Children’s Rights Kingdom Taskforce is scheduled for May 31.
