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Summary: This report extracts mentions of children's rights issues in the reports of the UN Special Procedures. This does not include reports of child specific Special Procedures, such as the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, which are available as separate reports.
Please note that the language may have been edited in places for the purpose of clarity
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Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, Farida Shaheed
A/HRC/23/34/Add.2
Country Visit: 5 – 9 November 2012
Report published: 22 April 2013
Right to choose and express one’s identities: The Garifuna lost the war against the British at the end of the 18th century. Many were killed and the remaining Garifuna population, estimated at between 4,338 and 5,080 men, women and children, was deported in 1796, first to Balliceaux, in 1797, they were deported to Roatán, an island off the coast of Honduras. However, only about half of the deportees reached Roatán, as many had either died on Balliceaux, as a result of hunger, thirst and illness, or did not survive the journey. Those who stayed on Saint Vincent were prohibited from retaining their culture, which was then completely lost. The Special Rapporteur appreciates that Saint Vincent and the Grenadines census isbased on the principle of self-identification, through a questionnaire that includes questions on ethnicity. However, the option to identify as Garifuna is not available in the questionnaire. She stresses that population censuses may also be used to draw up, not a “racial” profile of the population, but a cultural profile, based on how people identify themselves (paras 39, 42,43, 45).
School books, curriculum and examinations: A main concern is that textbooks, which are developed at the Caribbean (regional) level, continue to have a European perspective. Textbooks do not sufficiently reflect the specific history of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and contain very little information on the Garifuna and Callinago peoples. The Special Rapporteur notes that the Government is positive about introducing the book People on the Move, The Effects of Some Important Historical Events on the People of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, by Vincentian historian, Edgar Adams, in secondary schools where it is already circulated. Rastafarian organizations also have raised their concerns in relation to the content of the school curriculum, which they find do not give sufficient space to the history of Africa (para 48).
Another concern is the extremely difficult task of motivating students to learn about Vincentian history when it is not a priority for the formal education system and when the examination, which is also set at the Caribbean (regional) level, does not include questions on such matters. Indeed, the Caribbean Examination Council for secondary level has limited space for local histories. While it is impractical to develop textbooks or examinations exclusively for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, it is important to find ways to integrate local histories and literature into the school curriculum, including through the use of information and communication technologies. (paras 49, 50).
Schools also develop extracurricular activities that enable students to have access to the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines heritage, through poetry, drama, song, dance or music. The Special Rapporteur learned that Sandy Bay Secondary School benefited during one year from the visit of a teacher from Belize, supported by UNESCO, who taught the Garifuna language. Regrettably the project could not be continued due to financial constraints and the lack of follow-up by or discouragement on the part of the school itself (para 53).
The Special Rapporteur recommends that the Government find and support ways to integrate local histories and literature into the school curriculum, including through the use of information and communication technologies; Support the dissemination of alternative history textbooks and the organization of extracurricular activities on Vincentian history in schools; Address the issue at the Caribbean (regional) level on how local histories can be better reflected and incorporated in textbooks as well as examinations (para 64).
School heritage clubs: The Special Rapporteur appreciates the establishment of heritage clubs in schools, which were started around 1997 at the initiative of teachers alarmed by students’ poor knowledge of students of their local history and environment. Heritage clubs have multiplied since then, but the general feeling is that this is still insufficient support from the Government. Teachers experience their efforts as a personal struggle, and the number of students in history classes remains small. The Special Rapporteur recommends that the Government strengthen support to heritage clubs in schools (para 51, 64).
Schools can also become members of the National Trust and those having a heritage club generally avail themselves of that possibility. The Special Rapporteur appreciates the National Trust’s intention to work with heritage clubs in secondary schools. The Trust may accompany students on expeditions, on demand, but mostly this activity is conducted on an ad hoc basis. The relationship between schools and the Trust is unclear at the moment and would need to be properly organized. The Special Rapporteur recommends that the National Trust strengthen its relationship with schools and heritage clubs in schools (paras 18, 19, 52, 67).
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