SOCIAL SECTOR INVESTMENT PROGRAMME
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SUSTAINING GROWTH, SECURING PROSPERITY
CHAPTER 3: NATIONAL SOCIAL SITUATION
• The Establishment of the International
Office of Child Rights (IOCR)
In March 2012, Cabinet agreed to the
establishment of an International Office of Child
Rights (IOCR) and to the establishment of the
Civil ChildAbductionAuthority within that Office.
The functions of this Office include, inter alia:
• To take appropriate measures to discover
the whereabouts of a child who has been
wrongfully removed or detained;
• To provide information of a general character
as to the law of State in connection with the
application of Hague Convention on Child
Abduction;
• The initiate or facilitate the institution of
judicial or administrative proceedings with
a view to obtaining the return of a child and,
in a proper case, to make arrangements for
organising or securing the effective exercise
of rights of access;
• To monitor and ensure compliance with the
Hague Convention.
The IOCR is currently in discussion with the US
Government and has already partnered with 48
countries to protect the rights of children.
In the area of labour legislation, the following
was undertaken by the Ministry of Labour and
Small and Micro Enterprise Development:
• Commenced action in January 2013 for the
amendment of the Occupational Safety and
Health Act 3 of 2006;
• Drafted and submitted for the attention
of the Chief Parliamentary Counsel of the
Legislative Review Commission (LRC), the
Co-operative Societies Act;
• Held consultation in Tobago on The Co-
operative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2013
& The Credit Union Bill 2013.
3.3 AGRICULTURE AND FOOD
SECURITY
The issue of food security remains a top priority
of theGoRTT.Acountry enjoys ahigh level of food
security when all citizens, have uninterrupted
access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to
maintain a healthy and active life. The concept
of food security also includes both physical and
economic access to food that meets people’s
dietary needs, as well as their food preferences.
Trinidad and Tobago’s large food import bill is
a cause for concern. In 2010, it accounted for
approximately 10% of total imports. However,
between 2010 and 2013, a 2% reduction has
been reported. Too high a dependence on food
import could compromise food security. A viable
agriculture sector is therefore critical to the
country’s food security. Accordingly, the GoRTT
has articulated the following objectives towards
a “food secure nation”:
• Increase the production of food locally;
• Reduce the food import bill;
• Reduce inflation, driven by food prices;
• Create sustainable, long - term, productive
employment;
• Contribute to the diversification of the
economy;
• Build a culture of producing and consuming
local food as our first choice;
• Create high-value added manufacturing of
local foods.
Efforts towards the achievement of this goal
have been articulated by the Ministry of Food
Production (MFP) in its development of a
National Food Production Action Plan 2012 –
2015. The plan focuses on targeted increases in
production of sixmain commodity groups,which
are as follows: staples, vegetables, legumes and
pulses, fruits, livestock and aquaculture.
