About the UNICEF Office for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean

About the UNICEF Office for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean

 

About the UNICEF Office for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean

Introduction

While UNICEF has been involved in assistance to Caribbean children since the 1950’s, its first   Caribbean Area Office was established in 1976 in Jamaica. The Office was then transferred to  Barbados in 1986.  Today, UNICEF has offices in Barbados (which serves Barbados and the Eastern  Caribbean), in Jamaica and in Guyana which serves Guyana, Trinidad and Suriname.

The UNICEF Office for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean is located at the UN House in Barbados. The Office is responsible for Programmes of Co-operation with the governments of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Programmes

Q. What programmes of work are the UNICEF Office for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean involved in the sub-region?

A. For the period 2003-2007 the office will be focusing on three main programmes. They are: Early Childhood Development, Adolescents and Life skills and Social Investment for Child Protection.

Early Childhood Development Programme:

The overall objective of this programme is to ensure that all children are born healthy, and have access to an integrated range of childhood services until the age of eight, including proper care and education, so as to enable them to reach their full potential. In line with the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), this programme will support integration of childhood services and the improvement of early childhood education.

Adolescents and Life skills Programme:

The aim of this programme is to improve knowledge, attitudes and skills among adolescents and young boys and girls and to assist in creating opportunities for their active and effective participation in societal development, leading to healthy and positive lifestyles with special emphasis on protection from HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The Health & Family Life Education (HFLE) project will support policy formulation and adoption, and provide assistance to HFLE teaching/learning at national and regional level.

Social Investment for Child Protection Programme:

In addition to the development and adoption of a regional policy framework and model legislation compliant with the CRC for the protection of children, this programme aims to support governments and civil societies to mainstream the principles of the CRC into national, social and economic agendas, with particular focus on children in need of special protection.

Vacancies
None available at present