Unicef's Allen in race to raise child welfare<\/p>\n
David Kennedy, Contributor, Jakarta, d_kenn@yahoo.com<\/p>\n
When Steven Allen talks about improving the survival prospects
\nand quality of life for Indonesia's most vulnerable citizens, it
\nis clear that he is not deterred by unfavorable odds.<\/p>\n
The 51-year-old head of the United Nations Children's Fund
\n(Unicef) in Indonesia came to Jakarta last year via some of the
\nworld's most infamous war zones and famine-hit areas -- Rwanda,
\nZaire, ex-Yugoslavia, Ethiopia and Sudan to name a few.<\/p>\n
What brought him to Jakarta?<\/p>\n
\"Oh, palm trees and heat,\" he joked to The Jakarta Post during
\na recent interview.<\/p>\n
Oxford-born Steven Allen got into the field of humanitarian
\naid and child welfare almost by accident. Within a week of
\ngraduating from the London School of Economics in 1974 he was on
\na plane to Ethiopia in search of adventure, planning to become a
\njournalist.<\/p>\n
\"I had delusions of grandeur and thought I'd write the
\ndefinitive story of the 1974 famine,\" he said, recalling how he
\nwas impressed by the work of development agencies when he arrived
\nand soon abandoned his journalistic aspirations.<\/p>\n
He started work for a British humanitarian organization,
\nOxfam, and then as a UN volunteer in Sudan, before joining Unicef
\nin 1977.<\/p>\n
\"My first task with Oxfam put me into the humanitarian relief
\nmode with a bump. It was in a relief camp for displaced people
\nwho'd come from the worst hit famine areas. They were in a
\ndesperate state, starving and sheltering under marquee tents.<\/p>\n
\"The rains had just arrived and the tents were collapsing
\nunder the volume of rain. My job was to go with a team and
\nconvince these extremely sick and weakened people to temporarily
\nleave the tents while we re-pitched them.\"<\/p>\n
Nowadays he admits to spending less time working on the ground
\nand more in dealing with resource and policy issues. He sees
\nIndonesia as a natural progression from his previous postings as
\nit combines both humanitarian and development work.<\/p>\n
Unicef administers US$23 million per annum in development aid
\nto Indonesia on projects ranging from improving the quality of
\nschools and access to education to immunization, nutrition,
\nhealth promotion and child protection as well as relief aid to
\ndisplaced people in conflict areas.<\/p>\n
\"Most of what we do in Indonesia is about getting systems to
\nwork,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Education is seen as a primary tool for lifting children out
\nof the cycle of poverty but there are many obstacles that can
\nprevent them from completing basic studies.<\/p>\n
Although attendance in the country's primary schools is high
\nat 95 percent, the drop-out level rises rapidly after the age of
\n13 years. Only about 60 percent of children go on to secondary
\nschools. Poverty is a factor influencing this as families often
\ncannot afford to send children to school. However other factors
\nare also at work.<\/p>\n
\"We see an alarming level of early marriage taking place at 15
\nor 16 years of age which means girls leave school. One of the
\ncrucial reasons for keeping them in school as long as possible
\napart from education is that it will postpone marriage and will
\nhelp to postpone the first pregnancy,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He added that early pregnancies contribute to high maternal
\nand infant mortality as well as perpetuating a cycle of ill
\nhealth and poverty.<\/p>\n
Keeping children in school is only half the battle. Raising
\nteaching standards is also crucial to increase the employability
\nof students once they leave school.<\/p>\n
\"Quality is a problem. It's a well known fact that Indonesia
\nscores very low in terms of maths and science -- it is among the
\nbottom 15 percent in Asia. There is a need to invest more in
\nteachers and involve communities in managing schools.\"<\/p>\n
Parents also have an important role to play as a recent Unicef
\nsurvey showed that mathematics and science, crucial to the
\neconomic leverage of a society, ranked low in their list of
\npriorities for their children's schooling.<\/p>\n
\"Parents were asked to name the most important subject in
\nschools (state schools) and 100 percent replied 'religion'. Maths
\nand science came around fourth of fifth place.\"<\/p>\n
Apart from working with NGOs, local authorities and schools to
\nimprove education facilities Unicef also lobbies central and
\nlocal government to implement laws on children's rights.<\/p>\n
Indonesia has introduced legislation to protect children from
\nabuse, exploitation and discrimination but Allen said much of it
\nhas yet to be enacted.<\/p>\n
Only an estimated 40 percent of children under the age of five
\nhave birth certificates. This means that statistics on child
\npoverty are based on projections of population sizes and lack
\ndetails of migratory effects and regional disparities.<\/p>\n
\"Child labor is a problem. Children are employed on fishing
\nplatforms, working with hazardous chemicals or in quarrying and
\nshoe making,\" he said. He added that the juvenile justice system
\nwas also a major concern as children tend to be imprisoned in
\nadult jails for minor offenses.<\/p>\n
\"In many areas to do with the protection of children the
\nlegislation and policies are there, whether it is about child
\nprotection, child labor or the sexual exploitation of children,
\nbut the implementation is not.\"<\/p>\n
Allen argues that concerted action on implementing laws is
\nhindered by the decentralization process that requires
\nregulations to be adopted separately by all levels of government
\nright down to local level.<\/p>\n
\"It's slow and cumbersome and child protection may not
\nnecessarily be the highest priority so there is a constant
\nadvocacy process that needs to be taken to the district level.
\nIt's extremely time consuming and labor intensive as authorities
\nhave to meet and discuss the issues. The government cannot just
\nsend a letter.\"<\/p>\n
Cultural sensitivities also hinder efforts to protect
\nchildren, which Unicef defines as young people from 0 to 18 years
\nof age.<\/p>\n
\"HIV\/AIDS is essentially transmitted among the young. In a
\nsurvey in 2001 about 84 percent said they knew nothing about
\nAIDS,\" he said adding that a subsequent short-lived advertising
\ncampaign had a major impact on raising awareness until it was
\nstopped because of fears that it would promote promiscuity and
\nsex outside of marriage.<\/p>\n
\"There is a certain schizophrenia which needs to be overcome.
\nI think the policy makers are aware of it but are in a dialogue
\nwith more conservative elements of society on how to formulate
\nthe message.\"<\/p>\n
Alarming levels of infection among intravenous drug users have
\nalso yet to be addressed. Unicef figures suggest that levels of
\nHIV\/AIDS among this group have risen from 14 percent in 1999 to
\n54 percent in 2003.<\/p>\n
According to Allen other countries, which had a similar
\nphenomenal rise in numbers infected, have introduced successful
\nharm reduction measures such as distributing clean needles.<\/p>\n
\"But that's something that Indonesia is not prepared to move
\nto yet as it's seen as legitimizing an illegal activity.\"<\/p>\n
When asked whether he is optimistic about the future for
\nchildren in Indonesia his reply is upbeat and diplomatic as you
\nwould expect from an experienced career civil servant.<\/p>\n
He sees \"the cross cutting issue of governance\" as the main
\nsource of difficulty in implementing laws to protect children.<\/p>\n
\"There needs to be implementation of legislation, follow up,
\nmonitoring and as necessary sanctions against people who are not
\nin line with the law whether its related to illegal logging or
\nsomething as seemingly benign as the iodization of salt,\" he said
\nreferring to the government's commitment to raise the consumption
\nof iodine in the country, which can lower health and mental
\ndeficiencies in mothers and infants.<\/p>\n
\"There's so much work to be done in implementing improvements
\nfor the survival of children, for their development and their
\nprotection and to get the policies formulated down to the village
\nlevel.\"<\/p>\n
\"I am optimistic but it's a marathon -- not a sprint.\"<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/unicefs-allen-in-race-to-raise-child-welfare-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }