From left: Domestic Violence and Child Rights policy coordinator Dirkje de Jong; Acting Island Secretary Malvern Dijkshoorn-Lopes; Deputy Government Commissioner Mervyn Stegers; Dutch Caribbean Advocacy and Programmes programme manager Marlies Filbri; Caribbean Netherlands Advocacy and Programmes project leader La-Toya Charles; and Steering Committee member Anna Waanders.
- EUSTATIUS--Representatives of the Netherlands National Committee for the United Nations Children’s Fund UNICEF presented a report on the situational analysis of children to Deputy Government Commissioner Mervyn Stegers and Acting Island Secretary Malvern Dijkshoorn-Lopes on Wednesday, December 4.
Representing UNICEF were Dutch Caribbean Advocacy and Programmes programme manager Marlies Filbri, Caribbean Netherlands Advocacy and Programmes project leader La-Toya Charles and Steering Committee member Anna Waanders.
The report details the outcomes of the situation analyses of children and adolescents in the Caribbean Netherlands (Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius).
The Netherlands Ministry of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations commissioned the report. Consultant Paulette Nichols collected the research that was carried out on the three Caribbean Netherlands islands.
The report came about because of a united effort by the local governments of the three Caribbean Netherlands islands, Dutch government ministries and various other stakeholders that was coordinated by UNICEF. The situation analyses were conducted between October 2018 and June 2019.
One of the main objectives of the report is to create an accepted understanding of the many challenges facing children and adolescents in the Caribbean Netherlands and ways and means to alleviate some the hardships.
