First Lady Raquel Arbaje and the rector of the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD), Emma Polanco, met this Wednesday to discuss the general lines of a collaboration agreement between the Cabinet for Children and Adolescents (GANA RD) and the university.
In this first meeting, Arbaje and Polanco analyzed the situation of teenage pregnancies and early unions, two of the main problems on which the Cabinet of Childhood and Adolescence is already working together with other state and governmental institutions.
Particular attention was given to the frequency of pregnancy among girls and adolescents in the Valdesia region, where the GANA RD is developing an emergency intervention pilot program, according to a press release. In this regard, Rector Polanco raised the possibility that social work students could contribute to the programs to reduce both rates, which was welcomed by Arbaje.
Other areas of collaboration will be research with the objective of quantitatively and qualitatively diagnosing the incidence of sexual abuse in the frequency of pregnancy in minors, and legal assistance through the Popular Legal Office of the Faculty of Juridical Sciences in the judicial processes that derive from denunciations of cases, according to a press release.
Also present were the president of the National Council for Children and Adolescents (Conani), Paula Disla, the representative of the Attorney General’s Office, Ana Morún, and the deans of Economic and Social Sciences, Alexi Martínez Olivo and Legal Sciences, Bautista López García. Also, the Vice Rector for Research and Postgraduate Studies, Mauro Canario, and the representative of the National Health Service (SNS), Luz Fermín.
At the meeting, Arbaje announced that a commission of the Cabinet of Children and Adolescents, formed by Paula Disla of Conani, Ana Morún of the Attorney General’s Office and Nancy Handal of the Office of the First Lady, will follow up on what was discussed on Wednesday.
