Black Immigrant Daily News

The number of children without access to social protection is increasing year-on-year, leaving them at risk of poverty, hunger and discrimination, according to a new report released by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and UNICEF today.

More than a billion reasons: The urgent need to build universal social protection for children warns that an additional 50 million children aged 0-15 missed out on a critical social protection provision – specifically, child benefits (paid in cash or tax credits) – between 2016 and 2020, driving up the total to 1.46 billion children under 15 globally.

“Ultimately, strengthened efforts to ensure adequate investment in universal social protection for children, ideally through universal child benefits to support families at all times, is the ethical and rational choice, and the one that paves the way to sustainable development and social justice,” said Shahra Razavi, Director of the Social Protection Department at the ILO.

According to the report, child and family benefit coverage rates fell or stagnated in every region in the world between 2016 and 2020, leaving no country on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal of achieving substantial social protection coverage by 2030. In Latin America and the Caribbean, for example, coverage fell significantly from approximately 51 per cent to 42 per cent. In many other regions, coverage has stalled and remains low. In Central Asia and Southern Asia; Eastern Asia and South-eastern Asia; Sub-Saharan Africa; and Western Asia and Northern Africa coverage rates have been at around 21 per cent, 14 per cent, 11 per cent and 28 per cent respectively since 2016.

Failure to provide children with adequate social protection leaves them vulnerable to poverty, disease, missed education, and poor nutrition, and increases their risk of child marriage and child labour.

Globally, children are twice as likely as adults to live in extreme poverty – those struggling to survive on less than US$1.90 (PPP * ) a day – approximately 356 million children. A billion children also live in multidimensional poverty – meaning without access to education, health, housing, nutrition, sanitation, or water. Children living in multidimensional poverty increased by 15 per cent during the COVID-19 pandemic, reversing previous progress in reducing child poverty and highlighting the urgent need for social protection.

Moreover, the pandemic highlighted that social protection is a critical response in times of crisis. Nearly every government in the world either rapidly adapted existing schemes or introduced new social protection programmes to support children and families, but most fell short of making permanent reforms to protect against future shocks, according to the report.

“As families face increasing economic hardship, food insecurity, conflict, and climate-related disasters, universal child benefits can be a lifeline,” said Natalia Winder-Rossi, UNICEF Director of Social Policy and Social Protection. “There is an urgent need to strengthen, expand and invest in child-friendly and shock-responsive social protection systems. This is essential to protect children from living in poverty and increase resilience particularly among the poorest households.”

The report emphasizes that all countries, irrespective of their level of development, have a choice: whether to pursue a “high-road” strategy of investment in reinforcing social protection systems, or a “low-road” strategy that misses out on necessary investments and will leave millions of children behind.

To reverse the negative trend, the ILO and UNICEF urge policymakers to take decisive steps to attain universal social protection for all children, including:

Investing in child benefits which offer a proven and cost-effective way to combat child poverty and ensure children thrive.
Providing a comprehensive range of child benefits through national social protection systems that also connect families to crucial health and social services, such as free or affordable high-quality childcare.
Building social protection systems that are rights-based, gender-responsive, inclusive, and shock responsive to address inequities and deliver better results for girls and women, migrant children, and children in child labour for example.
Securing sustainable financing for social protection systems by mobilizing domestic resources and increasing budget allocation for children.
Strengthening social protection for parents and caregivers by guaranteeing access to decent work and adequate benefits, including unemployment, sickness, maternity, disability, and pensions.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The parliamentary opposition is expressing concern about reports that the go ahead has been given for importation of cannabis from Canada, even while local farmers face difficulties exporting to the North American country.

In a media release Wednesday afternoon, Opposition Spokesperson on Industry, Investment and Global Logistics, Anthony Hylton, said he had serious concerns over the reported decision of Jamaica’s Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) to approve importation from Canada.

He termed the development as alarming.

Hylton said he strongly opposed the decision, “particularly because several attempts to legally export cannabis and cannabis products from Jamaica to the Canadian market have been met with resistance, including trade barriers.”

Hylton said the decision by the CLA to grant import licences for cannabis grown in Canada to be imported into Jamaica deserves a full explanation to the stakeholders in the local industry regarding the basis for such a decision.

He is demanding a quick response from the Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Aubyn Hill, on the agency’s decision.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

A day after his return from a Caricom mission in Haiti, Prime Minister Andrew Holness, told a diplomatic audience Tuesday that the French-speaking Caribbean nation needs the attention of the world.

Speaking at a Diplomatic Week event held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, the prime minister gave his preliminary observations on the Haiti mission, in advance of the formal report.

“All stakeholders that we have spoken to [in Haiti] have pointed out the emergency situation they face with security and safety of their citizens,” Holness said.

He pointed out that although he holds the view that “Haiti has institutions that are functioning”, these institutions are challenged.

“And with the right support, with the right attention, Haiti can overcome its challenges,” he added.

The prime minister affirmed: “I remain hopeful for the Haitians, and Jamaica and Caricom stand in solidarity with them. And we will continue to use our good offices and give whatever support we have in bringing global attention to the situation in Haiti and in supporting the Haitian people in reaching consensus and resolution of their challenges.”

For her part, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Kamina Johnson Smith, who was also a part of the mission, said: “We are deeply concerned about our Haitian brothers and sisters and we are working with our partners to treat the matter with the urgency that it deserves.”

She outlined that yesterday’s meetings were “well received” and “we look forward to discussing them formally within the wider Caricom body and beyond”.

Following the prime minister’s address, His Excellency Neville Gertze of the Republic of Namibia, commented that there is an “urgent need” for strengthened multilateralism, one that “is based on caring for one another”.

“And I’m taking the floor really just to say to you that we appreciate that you are bringing the spotlight to the crisis in Haiti. When the focus of the world is elsewhere, we should ensure that we do not leave others out. We should ensure that inclusivity is the order of the day, and we recognise the efforts you are [making],” Gertze said.

The Caricom delegation of leaders convened high-level talks with government officials and civil society in Haiti on Monday and heard from the relevant stakeholders in a bid to determine a path towards consensus-building for the restoration of political and security stability in the country.

This was in addition to a meeting with Canada on the matter of security.

The Caricom team also met with the High Transition Council and the Political Accord groups as well as the political parties, civil society, private sector and religious groups.

Diplomatic Week in Jamaica is being observed under the theme ‘Transcending Borders, Strengthening Partnerships, Advancing Development’.

More than 50 resident and non-resident Heads of Mission are participating in the week’s programme.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

On Monday March 6 government officials and experts will come together at two high-level events organized by the CAF-development bank of Latin America- and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). Among other topics, participants will debate the challenges related to taxation and decentralisation in the region and the role of public policies and cooperation for gender equality.

Both in-person events will be held at the ECLAC headquarters in Santiago to coincide with the CLXXVII meeting of the CAF board of directors scheduled for March 6-9 in Chile.

The first, the High-Level Meeting: Public Policies and Cooperation for Gender Equality, will be held from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. local time in Chile (GMT -3), to commemorate National Women’s Day, March 8.

The opening remarks will be offered by ECLAC Executive Secretary Jos? Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, CAF Executive President Sergio D?az-Granados, and the Chilean Vice-Secretary of Women and Gender Equality, Luz Vidal Huiriqueo.

At this meeting, CAF and ECLAC seek to foster a high-level dialogue where experiences, ideas and proposals can be shared on the challenges of incorporating a gender perspective when designing and implementing public policies and regional cooperation.

On Monday afternoon, the CEPAL-CAF Conference on Rethinking Decentralisation: Challenges for the 2030 Agenda will be held. The aim of this gathering is to contribute to the debate on how to improve the capabilities of subnational governments (tax collection, budget execution, etc.). A second topic is how to more efficiently design and organize relations between different levels of government to foster local development, innovation and the creation of opportunities.

After the opening remarks by Jos? Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs and Sergio D?az-Granados, the two representatives will sign a Memorandum of Understanding between CAF and CEPAL. Other invited speakers include Nicol?s Grau, the Chilean Minister of the Economy, Development and Tourism; Jos? Antonio Ocampo, Colombian Minister of the Economy and Public Credit; and Renata Vargas Amaral, Secretary of International Affairs and Development at the Ministry of Budget and Planning of Brazil.

All participants must be registered to attend these two events, which will be held at the ECLAC headquarters in Santiago, Chile (Av. Dag Hammarsk?ld 3477, Vitacura, Santiago. Ra?l Prebisch conference room). Journalists are required to present a press card from their news outlet or ID for entry.

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