Media practitioners from Anguilla and the region are participating in a two-day OECS Child Protection and Media workshop in Grenada.
The workshop is organized by the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States in collaboration with USAID and UNICEF. Its purpose is to expose the media on ethical and legal reporting practices on the rights of children, children in conflict with the law and children in difficult circumstances.
Speaking at the opening of the workshop on Tuesday morning, OECS Commissioner, Dr Patrick Antoinne highlighted the need for civil society to play their part in helping juveniles. He said the mindsets of civil society need to be changed.
MrAntoinne said as soon as juveniles enter the correction facility, “we should work on reintegrating them in society.”
Director, Social and Sustainable Development Division, Mr Bentley Browne, said youths are engaged in crime which have a negative socio-economic impact. He made reference to a report by Jad Channban, World Bank Economist, which stated that lost tourism revenues as a result of crime had reached in excess of US $200 million per year for the CARICOM region, and that overall youth crime was costing at least 7 percent of the region’s Gross Domestic Product.
Mr Browne said the workshop was a major flagship project in strengthening the capacity of media, pointing out that media creates an impact on society. He also said the session was a capacity building workshop responding to the need of juveniles.
Information Officer at Radio Anguilla, Ms Felicia Hennis, and Ms Esther Ward, from The Anguillian newspaper attended the workshop.
-Contributed
