NEWS
Consultant: Children need safe spaces to disclose sexual abuse
Children need to be given safe spaces to feel safe enough to disclose sexual abuse. Adults in these spaces need to be trained in how to respond to these disclosures. These were some of the conclusions made during the UWI’s Institute for Gender and Development Studies’ special lunch time seminar on November 19, titled Managing Child Sexual Abuse and Disclosure: Creating Safe Spaces for Children. Read more here
Country records deadliest day as 31 die from virus
For the second time this month, Trinidad and Tobago has recorded its deadliest day for the pandemic, as 31 people succumbed to COVID-19 yesterday. Among these deaths were ten elderly males, nine elderly females, six middle-aged males, five middle-aged females and one male child. The death of the child means the country has now lost two children to COVID-19 in the last six days and five for the pandemic since March 2020. The death of the child came one day after Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh revealed that 14 children under the age of one had contracted the virus in the last three months, among them eleven babies under three months old. Read more here
POLITICS
PM: Grim future if cases, deaths keep rising – TT ON THE EDGE
The Prime Minister warned the nation on Thursday that if the current trajectory of covid19 infections and deaths remain or even goes higher, the parallel health care system will be overwhelmed in a matter of days. In a pre-recorded address to the nation which began at 8 pm, Dr Rowley painted a grim picture and future for TT which could see the government having no choice whatsoever but to implement very harsh measures now being done in other countries currently swamped by the virus. Read more here
BUSINESS
Digital Transformation Ministry 'brimming with projects'
The Government is seeking to treble the number of community information and communications technology (ICT) centres by the end of 2022 as part of its efforts to transform society and the economy into a digital one, says Wayne Nakhid, deputy chief digital officer at the Ministry of Digital Transformation. There are 12 currently, and this, Nakhid said, is just one of the many ways the government is seeking to develop society into a digital one. Read more here
We must demand accountability
Are we as a society aspirational? Do we think that T&T could one day emerge from its present state and be what the late Prime Minister Dr Eric Williams called a model nation? To do that I feel requires a shift in culture that must start with average citizens demanding that we want better for ourselves, that we are not prepared to settle for things that we know are unacceptable and that we must hold all in leadership roles to account. Notice I said all. Not just politicians. There must be a burning desire for justice, for accountability and for high quality performance. Read more here
REGIONAL
MoHS launches 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence
The Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, on Thursday, join the rest of the world in kicking off 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence under the theme, “Orange the World: End Violence against Women Now!” According to a release, it is an annual campaign that begins on International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and runs until December 10, being Human Rights Day. It was started by activists at the inaugural Women’s Global Leadership Institute in 1991 and continues to be coordinated each year by the Centre for Women’s Global Leadership. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Coronavirus: Countries shut borders over new variant in southern Africa
More countries are tightening their travel restrictions after the discovery of a new coronavirus variant in South Africa earlier this week. The UK, Singapore and Japan are among those rushing in stricter quarantine measures and banning flights from South Africa and neighbouring countries. The EU is proposing to ban flights from the region across the whole bloc. Scientists still have much to learn about the variant, but say they are very worried about it. The World Health Organization (WHO) has said it will take a few weeks to understand the impact of the new variant, as scientists work to determine how transmissible it is. Read more here
26th November 2021