Panama President Juan Carlos Varela on Tuesday called on world governments, civil society and the private sector to work together to implement public policies to eradicate child labour and migration, scourges that violate the rights of children.
Speaking at the ‘Laureates and Leaders for Children Summit 2018’ here, he hoped Panama will become the first Latin American country to completely eradicate child labour.
The President said that Panama has made serious commitment to children, and that work is being done to ensure that they have full access to health, education and a safe environment throughout their childhood.
“We are pleased that, through a collaborative effort of different sectors of our society, we have been able to reduce the rate of child labour to historic levels, in 2016 it was only 2.5 per cent, the lowest in Latin America and the Caribbean,” he said.
He also lauded Jordan for its commitment towards protecting Syrian refugees, most of which are children.
“The hard work the Kingdom is making, with its own resources and with the help of the international community, is worthy of praise,” he said, adding “more international resources are needed in Jordan and the Middle East region for humanitarian aid and to offer hope to the victims of war.”
The second edition of the two-day summit, established by Indian Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi, is being held at the King Hussein Bin Talal Convention Centre on the historic banks of the Dead Sea in Jordan.
First Lady of Panama Lorena Castillo Garcia said the entire world needs to realise that they are one. “If somebody needs help, we must help them. This very feeling is required to the refugees and ease their pain,” she said.
According to estimates by the UN, more than 5.6 million Syrians have fled the country as refugees and half of the people affected are children due to the ongoing conflict in the Arab country.
