New policies created to help protect the island’s children will soon be published online.

Tinée Furbert, the Minister of Social Development and Seniors, said the National Child Safeguarding Policy was crafted to help ensure measures were in place to prevent abuse.

“We must all be agents of change and be proactive in preventing our children from all forms of abuse,” she told MPs in the House.

“The Government remains steadfast in providing our children with the protections that are necessary to safeguard them so they feel safe and can flourish to become productive members of our community.

“The future of our island is dependent on our children so let us work together to safeguard them now for their future destinies.”

Ms Furbert said that it was agreed during a 2015 meeting of the Joint Ministerial Council that the Overseas Territories should lead a natural response to child safeguarding to “reiterate the commitment to delivering a zero-tolerance approach to child abuse” with the support of the UK Government.

She said: “To ensure children’s needs are at the heart of the safeguarding system and environments are created in which all children have an equal opportunity to thrive, a child-centred and co-ordinated approach to safeguarding children needed to be adopted.

“This approach requires the collaboration of multi-agencies through the sharing of information and the undertaking of robust risk assessments.”

Ms Furbert said that a National Child Safeguarding Committee was approved in 2017 and established in 2019 with members including the Director of Child and Family Services, the Director of Court Services, the Commissioner of Police, the Commissioner of Education and others.

“The overall purpose of the Child Safeguarding Committee is to develop a national plan of action,” she said.

“This plan of action includes making recommendations on effective mechanisms that will cause the authorities in Bermuda such as government ministries, departments, quangos and child-focused agencies to function in unison and develop the needed legislation, policies, procedures and activities to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in Bermuda.”

Ms Furbert said the Director of Public Prosecutions had put together a National Child Safeguarding Committee Policy for Bermuda with the goals of strengthening legislation, improving collaboration and strengthening the community protection framework.

“The implementation of the National Child Safeguarding Policy will place Bermuda in a better position when we have to report on compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child,” she added.

Ms Furbert said the policy would be published on the Bermuda Government website and urged the public to read it.