Caribbean Meeting on International Child Protection – Implementing and Operating the Hague Child Protection Conventions
On 18 and 19 October 2018, the “Caribbean Meeting on International Child Protection – Implementing and Operating the Hague Child Protection Conventions”, was held in Kingston, Jamaica. The meeting was co-organised by the Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (ROLAC) and the Child Protection & Family Services Agency (CPFSA) of Jamaica, with the support of REUNITE International Child Abduction Centre.
The meeting was attended by 65 participants from 23 jurisdictions, including government officials, representatives of Central Authorities and Child Protection Authorities, members of the International Hague Network of Judges, academics and practitioners.
The objectives of the meeting were to facilitate the implementation and operation of the 1980 Child Abduction Convention in Caribbean jurisdictions and to offer training to Central Authority officers and Hague Network Judges from the region; to promote the 1993 Adoption, the 1996 Child Protection and the 2007 Child Support Conventions; and to promote the implementation of international family mediation.
The meeting allowed participants to have in-depth discussions and to exchange views and experiences regarding the implementation and operation of the Child Abduction Convention. Participants also had the opportunity to assess the role and benefits of the other Hague Children’s Conventions in addressing cross-border child protection cases in the Caribbean region and beyond and to discuss the possible implementation as well as the benefits from joining these Conventions.
Participants committed to continue assessing all possible means to improve the implementation and operation of the Hague Children’s Conventions that are in force in their respective jurisdictions, and to encourage further assessments of possibly joining those which are not yet in force in their respective jurisdictions.
The agenda of the meeting is available here.