By Charminae George
Over the years, youth’s voices have been shifted to the forefront to weigh in on prevalent issues affecting them and their peers.
One of the platforms making this possible is the annual Caribbean Child Research Conference, being held for the first time at the UWI Five Islands campus.
The theme for this year’s event is ‘A safer planet for every child: Striving for a world where children’s rights are respected and their voices are heard’.
During the two-day session which began yesterday with an opening ceremony, students will have the opportunity to present their research along with solutions to foremost issues affecting children every day.
According to this year’s statistics for Antigua and Barbuda from the United Nations children’s fund UNICEF, 40 percent of girls aged 15-19 have experienced partner violence.
UNICEF continues by stating that 48 percent of children have faced child-on-child violence and 25 percent of children have been bullied in the past.
What makes this conference noteworthy is that it is the only one in the region that presents an equal platform for both categories of researchers, according to Professor Aldrie Henry-Lee, Pro Vice-Chancellor/Head of the Board of Graduate Studies and Research for the UWI campuses.
“[It’s] the only conference of its kind in the Caribbean in which adults and child researchers have an equal voice,” she said during yesterday’s opening ceremony.
Research presented at the conference serves a broader purpose as it has been used to positively influence law-making in the past.
“For the 10th anniversary of the conference, a policy document with recommendations made by both adults and children was presented to the then prime minister of Jamaica,” Professor Lee stated.
In addition to that presentation, there have been four publications of research papers, essays and poems by children, and three published papers done by adult researchers that were peer-reviewed.
This year marks the 18th iteration of the conference with the first one being in 2005. According to Professor Lee, the specific objectives of the yearly conference are to review achievements of children in the Caribbean region, and improve adherence to children’s rights through recommendations submitted.
Partners of the conference include the Ministry of Education, Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies, and UNICEF.
