Salcete Taluka Workshop on Children's Issues The Taluka level workshop on children's issues was held on the 10th of August, 2002 at the Village Panchayat Hall, Davorlim.
The CDPO Mrs. Martha Mascarenhas, members of the village panchayats, representatives of NGOs & schools, other social workers and concerned citizens participated in the workshop. The workshop was organised by the Govt. of Goa, Department of Women and Child Development, ICDS-Salcete, in collaboration with Jan Ugahi and Programme for Children's Rights. Mrs. Martha Mascarenhas welcomed the gathering and explained the aims of the workshop. Mrs. Inez Cota Carvalho of Programme for Children�s Rights, introduced the Workshop. Mr. Gregory D'Costa, of Jan Ugahi, emphasised Trafficking as an international and inter-state problem and opined that in Goa trafficking was mainly for paedophilia, prostitution and labour. He also spoke about the causes of Child Labour and the approaches to counteract Child Labour. Ms. Bernardette D'Souza, of Jan Ugahi, outlined the problems faced by the street children and drug and substance abuse among street and other children. She recommended open shelters and other support measures for them. Ms. Melita Noronha of Jan Ugahi, threw light on the modus operandi of tourist paedophilies and appealed for alertness and support from the community. The above speakers pointed out that the Goan mind-set must change, a mind-set that a) looks down upon the migrant children as if the problem affected only the outsiders and not the Goan children and b) overlooks the sexual exploitation of children by foreign tourists because they patronise their services. Mr. Arun Pandey co-founder of Arz strongly urged for legislation to stop the religious dedication of children for prostitution and appealed for a commitment on the part of the state, both Govt. and people, to take measures to stop the evil and punish the perpetrators. Mrs. Deanna Rodrigues, retired Principal, stressed that the ground realities at the pre-primary, primary and secondary school levels were far from encouraging with weak foundations and quantitative education as against qualitative, unhygenic and inconducive conditions at schools, high drop out rate. She also presented an improvement model for quality education. Ms. Gracy Andrew of Sangath highlighted the need for awareness and support programs for prevention of disabilities as well as coping with and enhancing performance of mentally challenged children. Mr. Roger Rebello of Salgaonkar Law College pointed out the need for enforcing Women and Children Institution (Licensing) Act, 1956, and recommended legal and practical child friendly measures for the Homes. Ms. Auda Viegas of Bailancho Ekvot spoke of the widespread discrimination and injustices to the girl child right from conception. The patriachal system unleashes a systematic programme of subjugation and oppression on women. Ms. Albertina Almeida & Ms. Bianca Gracias addressed the legal issues related to children and the violations of their rights. While Ms. Bianca stressed the need for setting up child victims units and the need for enforcing mandatory procedures with regard to foreign tourists, Ms. Albertina pointed out a number of socially recognised child abusive and offensive areas which do not have legal status. She also suggested remedies and child friendly procedures. She proposed Institution monitoring mechanisms like Children's Code and State Commission for children. The methodology of the workshop included inputs by resource persons and interaction by the participants. In addition, two sessions were slotted for group discussions wherein the participants highlighted the problems affecting children in their areas and recommended remedies to solve them. The workshop, moderated by Mr. Gregory D'Costa, concluded with a vote of thanks by Mrs. Esperanca Costa, Sarpanch of Village Panchayat Davorlim and the CDPO Mrs. Martha Mascarenhas. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Finance - Get real-time stock quotes http://finance.yahoo.com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-W-E-B---S-I-T-E-=-=-= To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from GoaNet | http://www.goacom.com/goanet =================================================================== For (un)subscribing or for help, Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dont want so many e=mails? Join GoaNet-Digest instead ! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Help support non-commercial projects in Goa by advertizing!! * * * * Your ad here !!
