ECC Forum Urges Cross-Sector Action on Children’s Rights in St. James

Dr. María Julia Garcete Yegros, Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Children and Adolescents, says protecting children’s rights and helping those rights take root require urgent, steady work from every part of society.

She was speaking recently at the seventh annual Early Childhood Commission (ECC) Professional Development Institute (PDI), staged at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St. James. The gathering brought together educators, policymakers and development partners around the theme “Making Rights Real, Reclaiming General Comment 7”.

Dr. Garcete Yegros said the conference created an important space for participants to share learning and recommit to the welfare and rights of children across the region. She said laws, policies and formal frameworks matter, but real improvement depends heavily on the people who work with children each day.

The Director General said practitioners are central to turning children’s rights into lived protections. She also pointed to the early years as a period when those rights must be guarded with particular care.

Dr. Garcete Yegros thanked the practitioners and stakeholders at the event, recognising their ongoing service to children and families. The ECC’s Professional Development Institute is among the commission’s leading training forums, focused on improving teaching, caregiving and administration in the early childhood sector.