Anyone who knows Alison Anderson, the head of the Child Development Agency (CDA), knows she is not a quitter. So calls from the human-rights group Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ) for her resignation are likely to fall on deaf ears.

Anderson has a stubborn streak and once she takes on a job, she is determined to see it through to the end.

But JFJ is a powerful lobby and it will find sympathetic ears locally and overseas when it charges that the CDA is not doing a good job of taking care of the nation's children.

Even more worrying is JFJ's charge that the CDA is hiding its shortfalls behind half-truths in the reports that it submits to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

These allegations have been rejected by Anderson and no one should doubt that she is digging in for a fight.

The mother of two has been at the forefront of the CDA since its embryonic stages and was appointed to head the organisation after it was established as an executive agency in June 2004.

Before that, the former university lecturer worked in many aspects of childcare, including as a member of the board of the Early Childhood Commission and a member of the Youth Policy Coordinating Committee of Jamaica.

courseS

Anderson completed an inter-disciplinary course in children's rights at University of Ghent, Belgium, a BSc in international relations from the University of the West Indies and a postgraduate degree from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.

She was also involved in negotiations on the Child Rights Convention, worked on the special Summit on Children in 2002; and on legislation for child labour.

Anderson is the driving force behind the CDA which is an amalgamation of the Adoption Board, the Children's Services Division and the Child Support Unit.

The CDA is mandated to tackle tough issues including child labour and the general protection of the nation's children.

But Anderson has been under increasing pressure since the late May when seven girls died in a fire at the Armadale Juvenile Correctional Centre in Alexandria, St Ann.

An enquiry into the incident was conducted but the finding is yet to be made public.

That has not stopped human-rights groups, including the JFJ, which have argued that this was the type of event the CDA was established to prevent.

This has been compounded by repeated whispers of incidents of abuse at state facilities and concerns about the number of juveniles being held in adult correctional facilities.

Anderson has responded with claims that the CDA has been vigilant in terms of its monitoring of children's homes, with specific standards and procedures being implemented.

She has claimed that the monitoring takes the form of announced and unannounced visits.

However, that has not satisfied the JFJ which says it has details to challenge the claims of the CDA.

This is one case that will be played out over the not-too-distant future and most instrumental will be the response of the Ministry of Health which has authority over the CDA.

But even as the drama plays out, Alison Anderson will be among The Sunday Gleaner's People Under Pressure.