The Ministry of Health, Environment and Sustainability appointed Carolina Ferreira to serve as its first designated safeguarding lead.
In a press release, the ministry said that this marks a significant step in strengthening the protection of children and vulnerable adults.
In this newly established role, Ferreira will provide strategic leadership for safeguarding, overseeing the development and implementation of policies, coordinating training, monitoring compliance and effectiveness and leading awareness and education initiatives.
Ferreira said she was honoured to apply her experience, skills and academic training to service the community, adding, “I am committed to advancing a child rights-based approach to safeguarding that not only protects children from harm but also empowers them, strengthens families, and promotes long-term wellbeing.”
Experience in child protection
Ferreira brings more than 20 years of experience in advocacy, children’s rights, child protection, and gender and sexuality education. She began her career with the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, supporting the Kid’s Net programme for foster, adoptive and kinship families.
After returning to the Cayman Islands, she served as deputy director and child protection and Sexuality Education Programme manager at the Cayman Islands Red Cross, where she led the multi-agency Protection Starts Here child sexual abuse prevention project. Under her leadership, the initiative established the free Stewards of Children training programme, developed the My Body is My Own child abuse prevention curriculum, launched the Seal of Protection safeguarding initiative to help organisations strengthen child protection policies, and coordinated post-pandemic health and wellness checks for vulnerable children and families.
She also led a regional safeguarding initiative for the British Red Cross Overseas branches in the Caribbean and joined the Ministry of Health, Environment and Sustainability in 2022 as communications manager. During her tenure, she represented the ministry on several key child safeguarding and children’s rights committees, including the Strategic Partnership Working Group of the Cayman Islands Child Safeguarding Board and the Lanzarote Convention Committee.
Tamara Ebanks, chief officer in the health ministry, welcomed Ferreira’s appointment, noting the importance of dedicated leadership in strengthening safeguarding across the health sector. “We are proud to have someone with her depth of experience, subject matter expertise, and understanding of the Cayman Islands leading this work, and we look forward to the positive impact she will make,” Ebanks said.
The ministry said the establishment of the designated safeguarding lead reflects its ongoing commitment to “strengthening safeguarding systems, building workforce capacity, and working collaboratively with partners to protect the health, wellbeing and dignity of children and vulnerable adults across the Cayman Islands”.
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