A new competition is seeking to engage YOU – even as you remain at home during the battle to contain the coronavirus outbreak – on the pivotal matter of human rights and justice.

“We Have Rights” is organized by the Equal Rights and Justice (ERJ) project at the University of the West Indies with funding from the European Union in Jamaica, and in partnership with the Child Protection and Family Services Agency and the Jamaica Teachers Association. The aim, according to ERJ Project Manager Cush Lewis, is “to facilitate our youngsters in developing an early affinity for and appreciation of the protections afforded them under the law, as well as the role of the justice system in improving their lives and providing opportunities for them to improve themselves.”

To enter, students of primary and secondary schools are asked to make a video of an original skit, poem or song focusing on children’s rights in Jamaica; send the video via direct message to the ERJ Instagram page @equal_rights876. Videos will be accepted up to Monday April 20, 2020, with results known by April 25. 

Videos will be chosen by votes on the page; the video garnering the most votes between April 21 and April 25 will be adjudged the winner, thus earning six (6) laptop computers for their school, to aid in the school’s distance learning efforts. Second and third place winners will earn four and two tablet computers respectively

The ERJ is committed to both raising public awareness of the justice system and its role and also to creating opportunities for public input on justice as it seeks to develop a world class justice system for Jamaicans.