Status of Children Bill

REPORT ON THE STATUS OF CHILDREN BILL
Introduction

This report is a prerequisite to the draft Status of Children Bill which is attached. The Bill seeks
to provide for reform legislation in the OECS Member States to remove all discriminations
against children born out of wedlock.

At present, there is status of children legislation existing in some of the OECS Member States,
with the exception of Anguilla, Dominica, Montserrat and Saint Lucia. However the status of
children which exists in some of the OECS Member States is inadequate and requires further
expansion as it does not remove all forms of discrimination against children born out of wedlock
and as a result is not in compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, (CRC) and
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, (CEDAW), of which all OECS Member States are parties.