NGOs list down gaps, recommendations to advance children’s rights

To culminate the National Children’s Month, various international non-governmental organizations in the Philippines that are advocating for juvenile rights on Friday launched “Children Rights Now!” (CRN) a comprehensive report on the state of Filipino kids.

“The Child Rights Now Report emphasizes the need for us to advocate for renewed commitment to achieving the rights of all children and it urges all governments to demonstrate a renewed effort for supporting internationally agreed standards for children’s rights,” Pilgrim Gayo, country director of Terre des Homme, said during the launch held in Mandaluyong City.

“The main reason for this renewed call is the fact that the Child Rights Now Report concluded that globally, the promise of the UN Convention on the Rights of a Child was only partially realized,” she added.

The report of the coalition Joining Forces Philippines identified existing laws and measures adopted by the country to achieve the goals indicated in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child which the Philippines ratified in 1990—almost three decades ago.

To guide the policymakers and other stakeholders on pursuing the right track in further advancing children’s rights, the NGOs pinpointed gaps and recommendations in different sectors.

Education

The report stated that while there is 80 to 85% functional literacy rate among learners  aged 10 to 14, and 90 to 93% among those 15 to 19 years old, a significant number of elementary students up to Grade 6 are still “struggling readers.”

The burden of public school teachers was also cited as one factor that may hinder children from receiving quality education.

“Unlike in private schools where enrollment, record-keeping, guidance-counselling and daily operations for school upkeep are minded by administrative and non-teaching personnel, these tasks are expected to be performed by teachers in public schools—a situation that while hidden from view of the normal/metrics can erode teaching quality,” the report read.

The budget cuts on education, problematic metrics of measuring performance, non-passage of the positive discipline bill, and closure of traditional schools such as that of Lumad communities in Mindanao were also among the challenges cited.

To address the said gaps, the report recommended the government to capitalize on partnerships to fund child-focused programs; invest on teachers’ professional development; institutionalize after-school reading programs for struggling learners; and dismantle the remaining barriers to accessible education which include issues on age, gender, disability, geography, and economy.

Governance

The low functionality of the Local Council for the Protection of Children (LCPC)—a body mandated to formulate policies and implement child protection programs—was one of the identified gaps under the governance sector.

Only 30 out of the 81 provinces in the country have LCPCs with the ideal level of functionality pegged at 80 to 100%, according to data from the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Council which was cited in the report.

Also, the NGOs said that the inclusion of child-specific climate change vulnerabilities are often not factored in the planning, design, and budgeting processes.

A training on child sensitivity and laws on children in conflict with the law must also be given to all law enforcement units, especially those at the local level, the report said.

Health

The re-emergence of polio caused by the stagnant immunization rate for children and teenage pregnancy were mentioned as challenges in the landscape of the Filipino youth’s health.

Intensifying campaigns to prevent early pregnancy and provision of child- and adolescent-friendly reproductive health services were recommended.

The NGOs also pushed for expansion of immunization programs of the Department of Health.

Other challenges identified were data lapses on substance and alcohol abuse, and the supposed P16-billion budget cut in the health sector next year.

Justice

Amid the crackdown against drug suspects in the country, children often become “collateral damages” in the spate of killings, the report noted.

As of December 2017, there were 74 children killed in the anti-drugs campaign while up to 32,000 have been orphaned, according to the data cited in the report.

The online safety of children also needs to be monitored to keep them safe from online sexual exploitation, among other harms that may be committed against children in the virtual community.

Establishing a child helpline through the joint efforts of the Department of Justice and the Department of Information and Communications Technology was pitched.

Training child-friendly manpower in the government, building more child justice centers, and mounting a safe internet space  campaign are also recommended.

Protection and Development

The Department of Social Welfare and Development was urged to explore adopting global initiatives in ending violence against children. Local training for parents about the positive discipline approach in child-rearing could be a step forward, the NGOs emphasized.

They added that the impact of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) on the children’s welfare should also be reviewed “especially as staying in school is one of the main  requirements to ensure that their families will continue benefitting from the conditional cash transfer program.”

Ending exploitative child labor through a more holistic approach was also proposed in the report.

“The report makes the case for a new era of commitment for children and challenges government to take whole actions to target children across all societies,” Gayo said.

The Joining Forces Philippines is the coalition of ChildFund Alliance, Plan International, Save the Children, SOS Children’s Villages, Terres des Hommes, and World Vision. —LDF, GMA News