Greetings from the San Pedro Town Council.
This week, all across the world, our children are being celebrated under the theme: “2018:Children are taking over and turning the world Blue.” Their participation in the decision making process and the changes affected by our children are paramount for the healthy development of our communities. At the San Pedro Town Council, we want our children to take the lead in our local initiatives. We want to work hand-in-hand to build a world where our children can be in school, be safe from harm and can fulfill their full potential in becoming productive humans.
Since 2014, the town council has been fully committed to the Sustainable Child Friendly Municipality initiative. This innovative approach empowers our children to become fully engaged, share ideas and give their input in the way we conduct our business at the council. To demonstrate our full fledge commitment, the San Pedro Town Council has developed a Strategy and Action Plan aligned with the National Children’s Agenda. This will ensure that we do our small share in our global responsibility to fulfill Goal 11 of the Sustainable Development Goals aimed at making our towns, cities and communities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable for our children.
The San Pedro Town Council has made significant accomplishments which we want to highlight during Children’s Week. Together we have established:
1. A Sustainable Child Friendly Secretariat that will be used as an avenue to support the work we do with children in our community
2. We have strengthen our Technical Steering Committee and our Child’s Advisory Body, which are key oversight committees of the council
3.We have adopted policies that are shaping the way we want our town to operate. Amongst them is the creation of a Zero Alcohol sale in our public park, stricter measures in the approval of liquor licenses, implementation of key recommendations in the town’s development plan, just to name a few.
The work to certify our town as a Child Friendly Municipality by 2021 is a huge challenge that will require all hands on deck. We must all do our collective effort to ensure that we protect our children and preserve their rights. We all have a part to play and we know you will do your share because you care about our children.
As we celebrate our children, I want to thank those who are involved with children in our island; but most importantly our CAB members.
On behalf of the San Pedro Town Council, I want to wish all our children a happy Children’s Week and A happy World Children’s Day. We encourage our children to take over and turn the world blue.
Thank you!
