A GOVERNMENT MINISTER is calling on regional leaders to pay closer attention to the impact of migration on children.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Senator Maxine McClean, who is responsible for immigration, said on Tuesday, at the opening ceremony of a four-day forum which looks at Social Policy for Children's Rights, that the area was "of special concern".

"Barbados is particularly challenged to accommodate demands on our social services especially the demands for housing and school places. It is imperative therefore that as the Government grapples with these demands our regional leaders pay special attention to a regional, not merely a national, response to this issue of addressing the needs of our children and we focus on the movement of Caribbean people if we are to do right by our children," she said.

The year-end forum entitled Knowledge Building Through Partnerships is hosted by UNICEF, the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean and the Commonwealth Secretariat.

She told participants of the four-day meeting at Hilton Barbados that the David Thompson Administration had "reactivated the monitoring committee on the rights of the child and is in the process of reviewing legislation that impacts on children and families with a view to making it more relevant and more compliant with the convention of the rights of the child".

"In addition, as part of its programming within the next two years, the government through the child care board proposes to address the national reporting protocol for child protection and to develop national children's policies," McClean added.

The minister also noted: "I have made it clear that while the region is ahead of much of the world in addressing the needs of our children, we have to see the dangers ahead and be vigilant in our responses to any dangers actual or potential.

"I have reviewed the agenda for this forum and I am pleased that its content, its focus, and format should allow participants to go away with a renewed commitment to protecting our region's children. Indeed this exercise should constitute a template to be adopted beyond the region."

McClean congratulated UNICEF and UNECLAC on behalf of the Government for organising the event saying they recognised the importance of a partnership approach to addressing the issues challenging our region's children. (DS)