News Releases

UNICEF and UWI’s Institute of International Relations sign MOU

For Release Upon Receipt - January 15, 2014

St. Augustine


ST. AUGUSTINE, Trinidad and Tobago – The Institute of International Relations (IIR) of The University of the West Indies (UWI) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOU) to establish a hub for the creation and facilitation of the Caribbean Child Rights Observatory Network (CCRON) on January 14, 2014.

Both UNICEF and the IIR share a commitment to the principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and intend to strengthen their collaboration to promote and realise the rights of all girls and boys in the Caribbean region. CCRON will ensure the collection of relevant data, accurate analysis and dissemination of information on the situation of children in the region, while providing feedback and support to programme countries in the implementation and development of evidence-informed policies and programmes for children.  

Moreover, the hub and network will serve a role as an advocate for children’s issues, giving a voice to the most excluded and disadvantaged groups in the region. It will also provide technical guidance and assistance to governments and civil society organisations in reporting on and monitoring the progress of implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Hub is expected to monitor specific rights violations of children and, in particular, discrimination and exclusion, and seek to create visibility and inform change for key issues impacting children.  

The MOU was to be signed by representatives of UNICEF and The UWI in the presence of Planning and Sustainable Development Minister, Senator the Honourable Dr Bhoendradatt Tewarie, at the Ministry’s office. Its duration is for an initial period of two years. 

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Notes to the editor

About The Institute of International Relations

The Institute of International Relations (IIR) is a well-established and reputable interdisciplinary think tank of The University of the West Indies that combines theoretical research and publication with applied training and networking. It covers issues that are national, regional, hemispheric, trans-regional and global. The IIR reaches out to like-minded institutes, centres and think tanks across the Caribbean and the globe. Its Library houses a comprehensive collection of information resources on international relations, with a focus on material covering the Caribbean and Latin American region. The IIR provides a space for diplomatic dialogues, special seminars, cutting-edge research and high-quality peer-reviewed publications. 

About unicef

UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do.  Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere. UNICEF offices in the English-speaking Caribbean, through their respective country programmes, work together to undertake sub-regional initiatives to advance the realisation of children’s rights;  these offices include Jamaica, Belize, Guyana and Suriname and the Eastern Caribbean Area (ECA) based in Barbados.  UNICEF ECA will coordinate the engagement of other offices, under the guidance of the UNICEF Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Office (LACRO) for the purpose of this MOU.  

About TheUWI

Over the last six decades, The University of the West Indies (UWI) has evolved from a fledgling college in Jamaica with 33 students to a full-fledged University with over 40,000 students. Today, UWI is the largest and most longstanding higher education provider in the English-speaking Caribbean, with main campuses in Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, and Centres in Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, The Bahamas, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St Christopher (St Kitts) & Nevis, St Lucia, and St Vincent & the Grenadines. UWI recently launched its Open Campus, a virtual campus with over 50 physical site locations across the region, serving over 20 countries in the English-speaking Caribbean. UWI is an international university with faculty and students from over 40 countries and collaborative links with over 60 universities around the world. Through its seven Faculties, UWI offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Pure & Applied Sciences, Science and Agriculture, and Social Sciences.

(Please note that the proper name of the university is The University of the West Indies, inclusive of the “The”, hence The UWI.) 

For the latest UWI News, click http://sta.uwi.edu/news.

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