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“On this National Children’s Rights Day, we reaffirm that every boy and girl in the Dominican territory must grow up protected, with access to education, health, and opportunities to develop fully. We cannot normalize the violence or inequalities that still affect their present and limit their future,” said in a statement Anyoli Sanabria, interim representative of Unicef.
Other issues that persist and threaten the full exercise of children’s rights in the country are that the Caribbean nation has one of the highest rates of early unions, along with adolescent pregnancies in all of Latin America and the Caribbean, despite the fact that the percentages of early unions have decreased in recent years, Unicef specified. The UN agency also mentioned child labor, since although the rate dropped from 6.7% in 2014 to 3.8% in 2019, 16.8% of minors who do not attend school perform dangerous work. He also referred to suicide in adolescents and noted that despite the high underreporting on this issue, between 2017 and 2022, 174 cases of suicide were recorded in minors, with adolescents aged 15 to 17 being the highest risk group. These data highlight the urgency of strengthening public policies, increasing resources for child protection, and promoting a culture of respect for children’s rights throughout society, he indicated. “We cannot allow violence or inequalities to continue truncating their dreams. Our organization will continue to accompany the country in building a safe, protected childhood with confidence in a future of equality and well-being,” said the interim representative of Unicef in the statement.
