Rights of the Children one year after...
A woman called me up this week to ask whether the Rights of the Child Commission would take on the issue of the crazy curriculum for common entrance and the fact that the demands prevent children from playing or recreation.
She then remembered I had resigned a year ago. My resignation was due to the lack of resolution of the allegations of child molestation against Mr Kwame McKoy, the representative of the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security; and to my fear of the lobbying influences which would be brought to bear on decisions (I had received a friendly phone call from a nice man who I know asking whether I would support his candidate for Chairperson; I assured him that the Commissioners are all competent and that they could decide between them who should be Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson and thought nothing more of it at the time)
It will soon be two years since the Commission was signed in - the life of the Commission is three years. I remember when learning that I had been appointed to the Commission thinking that it was a great honour to be nominated by the women's groups and thinking of the potential which such a commission had in terms of the work which needed to be done in Guyana.
The Commission's work has not been prominent in the media as the work of the Women and Gender Equality Commission and the Ethnic Relations Commission. The Chairperson of the Rights of the Child Commission, Ms Nasir, noted in March 2011 that there is a work plan and that the secretariat was being organised.
A year later on reflection, I realise that I would have gone crazy (and driven the others crazy) with the delays in getting the Commission to be vibrant and active in the society. Now that I have completed grieving over the loss of what might have been .. the work continues in other places within a framework of clear policies and guidelines and with great opportunities for learning.
The Speaker of the National Assembly has never acknowledged receipt of my resignation letter. He is not mandated to do so - though one would have thought that the value system which says that MPs have to dress up nice when they go to Parliament would mean that letters of resignation would have been acknowledged. (Interestingly, I have heard that my name has been on the list of persons to be paid the monthly stipends) . This lack of acknowledgement is no surprise.. the Minister of Human Services never acknowledged an earlier request for an appropriate investigation into her Ministry's representative on the Commission either.
It is unfortunate that the allegations have not been resolved - the allegations have been used to satirise Mr McKoy and make light of the abuse of children. The issue seems to have been forgotten. Maybe maybe the media and the society are no longer concerned about the unresolved allegations. Since the National Assembly has not seen it fit to seek an appropriate resolution to those allegations, and the society seems generally to have lost interest .. I am probably not the best person to sit on the Commission.
I wish the Commission the best as it tries to implement its mandate. I hope that the other commissioners would be able to pronounce publicly on how they view the unresolved allegations against Mr McKoy. I am sure they would all want an investigation and resolution by an appropriate tribunal which would leave no doubt in the minds of any section of the population.
She then remembered I had resigned a year ago. My resignation was due to the lack of resolution of the allegations of child molestation against Mr Kwame McKoy, the representative of the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security; and to my fear of the lobbying influences which would be brought to bear on decisions (I had received a friendly phone call from a nice man who I know asking whether I would support his candidate for Chairperson; I assured him that the Commissioners are all competent and that they could decide between them who should be Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson and thought nothing more of it at the time)
It will soon be two years since the Commission was signed in - the life of the Commission is three years. I remember when learning that I had been appointed to the Commission thinking that it was a great honour to be nominated by the women's groups and thinking of the potential which such a commission had in terms of the work which needed to be done in Guyana.
The Commission's work has not been prominent in the media as the work of the Women and Gender Equality Commission and the Ethnic Relations Commission. The Chairperson of the Rights of the Child Commission, Ms Nasir, noted in March 2011 that there is a work plan and that the secretariat was being organised.
A year later on reflection, I realise that I would have gone crazy (and driven the others crazy) with the delays in getting the Commission to be vibrant and active in the society. Now that I have completed grieving over the loss of what might have been .. the work continues in other places within a framework of clear policies and guidelines and with great opportunities for learning.
The Speaker of the National Assembly has never acknowledged receipt of my resignation letter. He is not mandated to do so - though one would have thought that the value system which says that MPs have to dress up nice when they go to Parliament would mean that letters of resignation would have been acknowledged. (Interestingly, I have heard that my name has been on the list of persons to be paid the monthly stipends) . This lack of acknowledgement is no surprise.. the Minister of Human Services never acknowledged an earlier request for an appropriate investigation into her Ministry's representative on the Commission either.
It is unfortunate that the allegations have not been resolved - the allegations have been used to satirise Mr McKoy and make light of the abuse of children. The issue seems to have been forgotten. Maybe maybe the media and the society are no longer concerned about the unresolved allegations. Since the National Assembly has not seen it fit to seek an appropriate resolution to those allegations, and the society seems generally to have lost interest .. I am probably not the best person to sit on the Commission.
I wish the Commission the best as it tries to implement its mandate. I hope that the other commissioners would be able to pronounce publicly on how they view the unresolved allegations against Mr McKoy. I am sure they would all want an investigation and resolution by an appropriate tribunal which would leave no doubt in the minds of any section of the population.
Very fustrating that most Committees are rendered useless by gerrymandering!
ReplyDelete