AMECEA: Pastoral Department Rolls Out 2019 Plan for Child Safeguarding Desk
Having established a child Safeguarding Desk whose mandate is to support member Conferences to either review or develop policy documents, plans are underway to launch the handbook on Child Safeguarding Standards and Guidelines in May 2019.
According to the AMECEA Child Protection Desk Officer, Mr. George Thuku the launch has been scheduled for 28th May, depending on the availability of key personalities including Bishops and National Pastoral Coordinators from across the region.
“The desire of AMECEA Secretariat is to assist Conferences to be able to establish child protection desks at national level with a hope that this development trickles down to all Dioceses in AMECEA Region,” Mr. Thuku said.
“We want to start by strengthening at least three conferences on maters to do with child protection and currently we are in consultations with the Conferences to decide on which ones. Once we have come to an agreement, our intention is to directly work with them to establish the desks. The plan is also to start with Conferences that either need to review their policy or does not have any yet and therefore needs to develop one.”
AMECEA Child Protection Desk Officer
Mr. Thuku further explained that the AMECEA Pastoral Department through the desk will be training Pastoral coordinators and child protection personnel form the first three conferences as the department lays out strategy towards achievement of a fully operational child protection desks within the three Conferences.
“As we await the action plan from the February 2019 Rome summit on Child safeguarding, which we envisage to have a huge bearing on what specific actions, we are planning for a meeting with the Bishop Presidents of AMECEA Conferences who attended the summit in Rome to consult on the best way forward,” he expressed
“My message to each and every person Catholic lay, Religious as well as the clergy is that children are our responsibility. Their safety is the responsibility of each one of us. They are a precious gift from God and we have a moral responsibility to make sure that they are guarded against any form of ill treatment and any form of abuse. In short we have a moral responsibility to create childhood memories that are pleasant and worth remembering by every child.”
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By Pamela Adinda, AMECEA Online News
