GOVERNMENT HOUSE, Mount Fitzwilliam, The Bahamas  – Governor General, Her Excellency the Most Hon. Dame Marguerite Pindling, DCMG, has consented to serve as the Patron of Child Protection Month 2019.

The announcement was made Monday (April 8) during a Courtesy Call on Her Excellency by Minister of Social Services and Urban Development, the Hon Frankie A. Campbell, and members of the National Child Protection Council (NCPC), the Child Protection Committee of the Department of Social Services, Ministry of Social Services and Urban Development, and the Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect Unit (SCAN) of the Ministry of Health.

Minister Campbell said Her Excellency’s consent “is as momentous as it gets as we do the work of child protection in this country.”

Minister Campbell was accompanied to Mount Fitzwilliam by Ms. Sherrylee Smith, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Social Services and Urban Development; Miss D. Brenda L. Dorsett, Under Secretary, Ministry of Social Services and Urban Development; Mrs. Lillian Quant-Forbes, Director, Department of Social Services, Ministry of Social Services and Urban Development; Mrs. Charlamae Fernander, Assistant Director, Children’s and Families Services, Department of Social Services, Ministry of Social Services and Urban Development; Ms. Cherely Kelly, Assistant Director, Child Protection Unit, Department of Social Services; Bishop Arnold Josey, Chairman of the National Child Protection Council; Dr. Novia Carter-Lookie, Deputy Chairperson of the National Child Protection Council, in addition to other senior officials of the Department of Social Services.

“Her Excellency’s gracious consent to serve as Patron of Child Protection Month 2019 is truly of great significance. It is as significant as significance can get to have the Office of the Governor General and the holder of the Office of Governor General consent to lead this charge in keeping our children safe,” Minister Campbell said.

“The saying: ‘the children are the future’ oftentimes seems like a mere cliché, but for those who are uncertain, it is real that our children are our future. The way we treat and prepare our children will determine what kind of future we have as a country.

“Therefore, it behooves us to ensure that our children are loved, and feel loved so that they can show love. It behooves us to ensure that our children are protected and have an appreciation for protection so that they too will protect when they take the reins from us. And so being here was as momentous as it gets as we do the work of child protection in this country.

“I am leaving here inspired by the admonishments of Her Excellency. I am leaving here encouraged that if we do the things that were discussed, we will all be the beneficiaries, but more so, we will be preparing the next generation to take our nation to higher heights,” Minister Campbell added.

Minister Campbell presented Dame Marguerite with the first Pinwheel for 2019. The Pinwheel symbolizes Child Protection. A Pinwheel Garden was also planted at Mount Fitzwilliam.

The Pinwheel was selected as the new national symbol for child protection/child abuse prevention in The Bahamas in 2016 replacing the Blue Ribbon. Child Protection officials say by its very nature, the pinwheel connotes whimsy and childlike notions.

“In essence, it has come to serve as the physical embodiment, or reminder, of the great childhoods we want for all children.”

Child Protection Month has been observed annually in April in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas since 1992, marking 27 consecutive years. The Child Protection Unit, Department of Social Services, Ministry of Social Services and Urban Development, in conjunction with the National Child Protection Council (NCPC) and the Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN) Unit of the Ministry of Health, have once again collaborated to stage a number of activities as part of the education and awareness campaign. The Month will be observed under the theme: “Every Child Safe, Every Community Aware: No Excuse for Child Abuse.”