CHIEF executive officer and chairman of Grace, Kennedy & Company Ltd, Douglas Orane, has urged Jamaicans to take responsibility for the welfare and protection of the nation’s children.

“We must”, said Orane, the patron of Child Month, “become activists in the cause of nurturing, loving, offering support and encouragement and to help them to achieve their full potential.”

“‘Protect Our Children, Save our Nation’,” the theme for National Child Month 2003 is a profound rallying cry. Children, because of their vulnerability, need special care and attention and their families, communities, and the state must do everything to ensure their safety and development… all of us as adult citizens of this country must do what we can, where we can, where we are, to help to protect and provide for the children of this nation,” he said.

Orane was speaking at the 50th anniversary of the National Child Month Committee which served as a backdrop for the official launch of National Child Month 2003.

The Grace, Kennedy & Company’s downtown Kingston’s Harbour street headquarters housed the event which attracted about 100 persons, including children from selected schools.

“Surely, it is possible for those of us who bring children into this world as well as the managers and operators of children’s homes, orphanages and schools, as well as those who run the nation’s affairs, to provide them with an environment in which they can develop into healthy, happy, confident and fulfilled adults,” he said.

“Children are not our future, they’re now,” said ambassador for children, Marjorie Taylor, in her address.

She said it was particularly important in this month, that “we examine how and to what extent we can further improve the lives of our children”.

She added: “This cannot be addressed by government policy alone. Each individual has a role to play in securing the welfare of these precious gifts.”

During the launch, children from various schools delighted their audience with cultural presentations that brought tears, laughter and pride.

Children First, a Spanish-Town based youth organization, brought home the point of negative issues surrounding children when they rapped, danced and acted scenes about incest, sexual exploitation and parental involvement.