Investing in children<\/p>\n
Facts presented at the sixth ministerial consultation of the
\nEast Asia and Pacific region, which ended on Wednesday in
\nDenpasar, make it clear that children continue to be the objects
\nof abuse and neglect at the hands of adults.<\/p>\n
The latest reports published by Unicef and the Indonesian
\ngovernment reveal, among other things, that children in this
\nregion feature prominently in cases of human trafficking and
\nexploitation, either sexual or otherwise. This is the case
\ndespite the fact that many nations in the region, Indonesia
\nincluded, have ratified the United Nations Convention on the
\nRights of the Child.<\/p>\n
While recognizing progress, for instance in the area of
\neducation, delegations from 26 countries reported that crimes
\nsuch as the trafficking of children, mainly girls, for labor,
\nsexual exploitation and forced marriage continued to take place.
\nDelegates issued the \"Bali Consensus\" in which they pledged
\ngreater support for the region's children.<\/p>\n
In an interview with this newspaper, chairman of the United
\nNations Committee on the Rights of the Child, Jaap E. Doek, said
\nthat in the case of young victims of sexual exploitation, finding
\na way out was not impossible.<\/p>\n
While he confirmed that disclosed cases of sexual
\nexploitation, including for Indonesia, were likely the tip of the
\niceberg, or only the \"camel's nose\", he said the demand for
\nchildren as sexual objects had declined in areas where
\ngovernments sent a clear message that perpetrators faced legal
\nconsequences, a case in point being Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n
Our own government's report at the meeting said only a few
\ncases of pedophilia had been processed in the courts, while
\nreports of such crimes had been found in major cities such as
\nMedan, Jakarta, Bandung and Surabaya.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, human trafficking is only one of the plights
\nchildren in the region face. The condition of Indonesia's
\nchildren has worsened since the onset of the economic crisis in
\n1997, as reflected in the latest available data. An increasing
\nnumber of children in the country face malnourishment, have been
\nforced to drop out of school, live on the streets or work in
\ndirty and dangerous jobs while their parents strive to make ends
\nmeet.<\/p>\n
The average Indonesian child, the country report says, \"spends
\ntwo and a half months a year with a cough, 40 days a year with a
\nfever and two weeks a year with diarrhea\".<\/p>\n
Basic health services have suffered since the crisis,
\ncontributing, along with other factors, to \"a lost generation in
\nthe long run\", the document says. As cited by President Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri, 10 million of our children, according to the
\nlatest available data, do not even live to see their fifth
\nbirthday.<\/p>\n
Children also continue to be part of our refugee population
\nfleeing conflict areas. In Aceh, children have repeatedly emerged
\non lists of civilians caught in the cross-fire, even as more
\nmilitary operations in the province await and advocates of such
\noperations emphasize that all will be done to ensure minimum
\n\"collateral damage\".<\/p>\n
Recent victims included two girls in Bireun -- Ina Rahmati,
\n10, who was killed, and her friend Fitriana, 12, who was
\nseriously wounded.<\/p>\n
As the Denpasar talks closed, a report from the International
\nCommission of Jurists (ICJ) revealed that thousands of
\nIndonesia's children do not even have the basic right of
\ncitizenship, having been born stateless among families living
\nalong the Indonesian-Papua New Guinea border. Now \"forgotten
\npeople\", the ICJ report said, the families fled military
\noperations over the past two decades.<\/p>\n
It must be noted that not only has Indonesia ratified the UN
\nConvention on the Rights of the Child in 1990, but last year a
\nlaw on child protection was finally passed after the draft had
\ngathered dust for years in the legislature.<\/p>\n
All this should be enough to help us implement the UN's
\n\"Millennium Development Goals\", which include reducing child
\nmortality rates and eradicating extreme poverty and hunger. But
\nto get adults to act on a situation, even when it concerns life
\nand death, one must talk in terms of money.<\/p>\n
Unicef executive director Carol Bellamy thus hit the right
\nnote when she urged us to invest in our children. \"The
\neradication of poverty, the fostering of peace, the nurturing of
\nhuman potential, all start with one thing: Investing in
\nchildren,\" she said at the Denpasar forum.<\/p>\n
It does not take an economist to grasp that a large portion of
\nthe state budget is at present allocated to paying the debts of
\nrecalcitrant businesspeople, and that remaining funds continue to
\nbe subject to corruption -- making any statement of \"investing\"
\nin children on our part mere rhetoric.<\/p>\n
A prerequisite for ensuring \"a world fit for children\", in the
\nparlance of the UN campaign, is to learn how to place the needs
\nof the young at the center of policy-making, as a number of
\nearlier international meetings on children have pointed out.<\/p>\n
Indonesia now has the renewed support of our East Asia and
\nPacific neighbors in saving our children. But distracted as our
\npolicymakers are by next year's elections, we sincerely hope that
\nthey will still find the time to consider the interests of the
\nnext generation.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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