THE UK-BASED children's agency, Save the Children UK, will no longer operate an office in Jamaica as of this Saturday.
The agency said yesterday that it would be moving its local operations to the newly established Caribbean and Central American regional office in Honduras.
The agency is promising that its work with Jamaican youth and children's organisations such as Children First in St. Catherine will continue.
A final meeting between Save the Children UK partners, is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. today at the Alhambra Inn, Tucker Avenue, Kingston to discuss work carried out since 1988, when the group established a relief programme to help build local capacity after Hurricane Gilbert.
"A positive outcome of this work is that the infrastructure required to support local partners in Jamaica is no longer required at the same level," explained Jutta Heering, Save the Children programme director for the Caribbean.
The local partners include the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education-curriculum unit, Bureau of Women's Affairs, Jamaica Environment Trust, Jamaica Coalition on the rights of the child and the Western Society for the Upliftment of Children in Montego Bay, St. James.
Local children's agencies will now liaise with the regional office, which is responsible for funding and co-ordinating programmes in this region. Save the Children says that only good things can come from the change. "By merging its Caribbean and Central America programmes Save the Children will open doors to better learning and sharing opportunities between countries.
"Under the merged structure new methodologies in the areas of child participation, advocacy with young people, disaster preparedness and so on can be tested and adapted in a region-wide manner that will bring greater coherence and success," continued the programme director.
Save the Children operates programmes in over 70 countries including Haiti, Cuba and some eastern Caribbean islands and has helped to teach youth about HIV/AIDS. The group will also continue programmes such as combating child labour, prevention of violence against children, especially domestic violence or incest and promoting young people's participation in the community.