Prime Minister Bruce Golding yesterday instructed the task force on child abuse prevention to move immediately to implement the recommended short-term initiatives to address the crisis of violence against children.
The immediate strategies to be implemented will include moves to establish a three-digit emergency number whereby children in crisis can call and report cases of abuse.
The task force met yesterday afternoon at Jamaica House with Golding; Information, Culture, Youth and Sports Minister Olivia Grange; and Health Minister Ruddy Spencer.
The task force representatives are drawn from several government ministries and agencies, the Cabinet Office and the Opposition.
The group presented a number of short-, medium- and long-term measures to curb child abuse
Cable and cellular providers will be required to work in association with the Constabulary Communication Network to display photographs and carry information on missing children.
The Ministry of National Security has been instructed to strengthen the capacity of its Centre for Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse.
Strategies to better protect the country's children.
Grange advised the meeting that several cable stations have already committed to supporting a public education programme to help in the campaign to protect the nation's children.
Golding instructed the Child Development Agency, through its chief executive officer, Alison Anderson, to provide each agency with a breakdown of their specific recommendations so that a plan of action can be developed for implementation.
The agencies are to meet within the next two weeks when the prime minister will be provided with their plans of action to deal with the issues of child abuse and protection of children.
Sexual Offences Bill
Meanwhile, the Sexual Offences Bill is to be brought before Cabinet within the next two weeks.
It fell off Parliament's Order Paper after the House was dissolved for the 2007 general election.
A National Advisory Council to administer the provisions of the Child Care and Protection Act is also to be brought to Cabinet within the next two weeks.
The Task Force on Child Abuse Prevention was estab-lished by Golding a week ago following a series of horrific attacks against the nation's children.
Ananda Dean, an 11-year-old St Andrew girl, disappeared in September after leaving school for home. A body believed to be that of the child was found on September 28 but the police are still awaiting DNA test results to confirm the identity.
Days later, a nine-month-old boy was sodomised and later died and a 10-year-old girl was raped in Trench Town St Andrew after returning from the shop.
More than 56 children have been murdered since the start of the year.
