The Regional Secretary for Social Solidarity, Piedade Lalanda, revealed today that the Government of the Azores defends the creation of a regional monitoring body to the Commission for the Protection of Children and Youth at Risk (CPCJ), given their important role in the monitoring of these age levels.

The initiative follows the statements made by Piedade Lalanda last December at the closing session of the Regional Meeting of CPCJ in Ponta Delgada, where the government official conveyed the Government's support to regional commissions and their important role in the monitoring of children and youngsters at risk as well as of their families.

For the Regional Secretary for Social Solidarity, the new regional body will certainly enable a closer supervision of all commissions, including the training of technicians. It will be in coordination with the national entity in terms of its legal framework.

During a meeting with CPCJ in Santa Cruz da Graciosa, held under the Government's statutory visit to this island, Piedade Lalanda recalled that the another regional meeting of the commission will take place later this year.

The Regional Secretary also stressed that the mission of CPCJ "is to defend the rights of children and youth by providing them with the necessary conditions for the development as individuals and citizens with full rights."