Absence of child protection law deplored

Absence of child protection law deplored

Leo Wahyudi S, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

An executive of the National Commission for Child Protection
has expressed concern over the absence of a law that adequately
protects children from violations of their rights, including
violence, neglect, discrimination and exploitation.

Arist Merdeka Sirait, the commission's secretary general,
criticized the government for its failure to implement in an
optimal fashion its duty to provide legal instruments upholding
children's rights.

The poor record of achievement has been clear to see in the
lengthy deliberations on the draft bill on child protection in
the face of the rising incidence of violations against children
without any proper intervention, Sirait said in a press
conference held on Thursday to disseminate the results of the
commission's activities in the period 1998 to 2001.

"This poor record has led to millions of children being
exploited both economically and sexually, and the number
continues to rise," he said.

That's why the international community, especially the United
States, recently classified Indonesia as the country with the
third worst record on the trafficking of women and children,
after Congo and South Africa, he said.

Sirait said that another problem requiring urgent resolution
was the high number of displaced children, caused by the many
conflicts in the country.

The condition of displaced children was poor mainly because of
inadequate nutrition, illness and low school retention rates, he
said.

Therefore, Sirait underlined that it was high time to provide
sufficient and non-discriminatory protection that would uphold
the best interests of children.

He explained that his commission, set up in cooperation with
the United Nations' Children Fund in October 1998, had been
entrusted to carry out activities and programs on child
protection.

In their implementation, however, the programs had not run as
well as expected, mainly because of the limited availability of
human resources, funds and appropriate planning, he said.

In order to help facilitate the commission's activities,
Sirait, who at the press meeting was accompanied by the
commission's chairman Seto Mulyadi, made a number of suggestions,
including changing the status of the ratification of the Children
Rights Convention from a presidential decree into law.

The commission also urged the House of Representatives to
speed up its deliberations on the draft law on child protection.