His Excellency Officiates as Chief Guest at the Launch of the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (PCAN) National Celebration.
November 9, 2018
His Excellency Major-General (Ret’d) Jioji Konusi Konrote officiated at the Launching of the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (PCAN) National Celebration on Friday, 09th November 2018.
His Excellency the President Major-General (Ret’d) Jioji Konusi Konrote and the First Lady Madam Sarote Konrote with the Minister of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation Honourable Mereseini Vuniwaqa and participants of the celebration at Grand Pacific Hotel, Suva.
The event saw the launch of the National Child Helpline with its mascot “Charlie the Helpline Turtle”. The Head of State said the launch was to raise more awareness on child abuse and neglect – while allowing children the option to call 1325 (Free call) if they needed help in any matter. He also highlighted that recent statistics revealed an alarming magnitude of both child abuse and neglect. "For instance, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution reported over 300 cases of rape and sexual offences on children during the eight months period from January to August of this year. This means that for the past eight months, more than one child were being neglected and abused each day."