Educating young Jamaicans about child abuse and the course of action to be taken to address this, while helping children who may be suffering in silence, are some of the objectives of the newly established volunteer Child Ambassadors initiative of the Office of the Children's Registry (OCR).

Launched in 2012, the programme is one of the OCR's main initiatives, aimed at involving more youngsters in the fight against child abuse.

Currently, there are nine child ambassadors, who were selected from across the island six months ago and presented with their instruments of appointments by Youth and Culture Minister Lisa Hanna. They will serve for one year. One of the ambassadors, St Andrew High School student Ashlie Barrett, has high praises for the concept.

"So far, the programme has been excellent (and) it has been a great experience. We have had a lot of exposure," she told JIS News.

Barrett says her love for other children led her to join the programme, noting that children "are our most important investment in this country because they are our future".

training programmes

Registrar of the OCR Greig Smith says prior to being appointed, the Ambassadors participated in several workshops and training programmes at the agency's head office in Kingston

He explains that they learned about the importance of children's agencies and how they, in their roles as ambassadors, can interface children within their communities and schools as well as their peers.

Smith told JIS Newsthat they are expected to encourage children who they know have been or suspect of being abused to make reports to the OCR.

"They can now educate their peers at devotions, educate parents at parent-teachers association meetings on what they need to do if they suspect or know of cases of child abuse," he points out.

Barrett says she has endeavoured to heighten the level of awareness by distributing flyers and brochures at her school and sharing information garnered at the training sessions.

"I am planning to initiate a club. But right now, what I am doing is handing out some flyers, and informing my fellow classmates, as well as members of the school population (on), what the OCR is about. I tell them not to be afraid, (but) to speak up against child abuse of any form," she points out.