Georgetown: Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mohabir Anil Nandlall Monday met with the United Nation’s Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) representative, Irfan Akhtar. Also present at the meeting was Ms. Patricia Gittens.
Mr. Akhtar congratulated Minister Nandlall for his appointment as Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs and also congratulated the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) for winning the 2nd March 2020 elections.
Mr. Akhtar informed the Attorney General that at their first meeting he was impressed with the level of knowledge he displayed in relation to child right’s and the work of UNICEF. Further, the Attorney General thanked Mr. Akhtar for the work UNICEF has been doing and continues to do, specifically, for UNICEF’s support for the advancement of the rights of children in Guyana.
During the meeting Mr. Akhtar and Ms. Gittens updated the Attorney General on the work of UNICEF, specifically, in relation to juvenile justice, draft legislation on inter-country adoption, draft Regulations in relation to the Juvenile Justice Act, amendments to the Domestic Violence Act, and media guidelines on reporting domestic violence. Further, Mr. Akhtar informed the Attorney General that Guyana is the first state of the Americas to be a party to all the Hague Conference on Private International Law Children’s Conventions. Assurance was also offered on the issue of restorative justice in relation to children.
The Attorney General updated the United Nations Official on current government programs, on the issue raised and promised to incorporate UNICEF’s offer of assistance into existing government programs, to avoid duplicity of efforts.
The UNICEF representative informed Minister Nandlall that UNICEF would like to help with updating the domestic violence legislation. The Attorney General informed of the help from the Canadian Government in getting the current domestic violence legislation reviewed and revised. Mr. Akhtar informed the Attorney General of the EU/UN Spotlight funding programme, which have money set aside for reviewing the current legislation and draft the updated Act.
In an effort not to duplicate efforts, the Attorney General said he welcomes the funding and believes that the money would be best used for holding consultations regarding domestic violence. On that note, the Attorney General believes that the best way to approach the issue it to gather information from all ten Administrative Regions and that would serve as the basis to update the Act. Further, Mr. Akhtar stated that UNICEF would like to help with an analysis of updating the Act with new forms of Domestic Violence, which are not captured within the current legislation and also to provide draft Regulations the Act.
The Attorney General said that his Ministry is happy to work along with UNICEF in regards of funding, training and any help that the organization can provide.
You must be logged in to post a comment.