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BVI signs UNICEF action plan Published on Friday, November 7, 2008 Email To Friend    Print Version ROADTOWN, BVI: The British Virgin Islands government has officially signed the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Country Programme Action Plan 2008-2011. Deputy Premier and Minister of Health and Social Development Dancia Penn, affixed her signature to the agreement on the Territory’s behalf. Dancia Penn Government leaders of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and the Turks and Caicos Islands have already signed the agreement. UNICEF Representative Tom Olsen has also signed on behalf of UNICEF. The Country Programme Action Plan seeks to promote mutual agreement and cooperation for the fulfilment of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women, among other international treaties. The 2008-2011 programme specifically focuses on childhood development, child protection, HIV prevention, and life skills. “I am extremely grateful for Cabinet’s permission to sign this important regional agreement on behalf of the Virgin Islands Government. I am confident that our involvement with this initiative will play a role in helping the Government to achieve our vision to enhance the overall quality of life for the Territory’s children and people in general,” the Minister said. The Minister said she is positive about the benefits that the Territory stands to gain from entering into a new period of mutual cooperation with UNICEF, which will extend until December 31, 2011. The Country Programme Action Plan is a multi-country agreement, which covers 10 countries. It is managed by the UNICEF Office for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, which is based in Bridgetown. UNICEF works for children's rights, survival, development and protection, guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child.   Reads : 718