Children are the future and Samoa is making the necessary changes to ensure that their wellbeing are protected by having all partners and sectors meet under one roof.

The Ministry of Women Children and Social Development (MWCSD) were given this directive to lead this initiative and gave a call to all their Partners for a Talanoa Session on discussing Early Childhood Development policy.

This means improved wellbeing for children and a coordinated and not fragmented approach to child development.

They will be able to review all existing policies, make the connections, review the National Childcare Protection Policy and ensure that a section of that policy allows for a comprehensive ECD action plan.

The M.W.C.S.D. Chief Executive Officer Dr. Mema Motusaga said this was a responsibility for everyone and required everyone to work together in achieving their main objective.

“Child development is part of everybody’s life. It requires the contribution from everyone and all sectors of the community,” she said.

“It’s not a matter of Samoa not doing anything for our children but recognising that there is a whole lot of work that needs to be done. We need to learn from our success in past, recognize that and enhance them,” 

She said early childhood development is not the responsibility for the M.W.C.S.D. alone or for the Ministry of Education alone but is the responsibility of the whole country.

“We need to collectively do this work. Only then will we be able to fix our child vendor situation who are always on the street and counter the increase in the number of Children who are sexually abused in homes,” said Dr. Motusaga.

One other objective of this consultation is to revive and strengthen the family system, ensuring that parents are well prepared, educated and ready to transition from dating to marriage and to raising a family.

 “If we work together, our child development will be at a standard where Samoa is ready for these children to take forth the leadership responsibilities that lie ahead,” she said.

This is part of a program that started in 2019 and has seen no progress for two years but the ministry wants this to move ahead.

This will be the second in country consultation for Early Childhood Development (ECD) in Samoa and collectively hope to achieve a major improvement in the wellbeing of children of Samoa.