Activist Lily protects and serves the children

Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

When Kahlil Gibran said "your children are not your children", they were not merely the lofty words of an idealistic poet.

For it's our unwillingness to take the meaning seriously -- that children belong to society and are thus our collective responsibility -- that has led to the neglect of the country's youngest citizens. No, it's not enough to simply pass some coins through a cracked car window -- conscience cleared -- or give a few pitying shakes of the head.

Data gathered by the Indonesian Child Welfare Foundation (YKAI) in 2002 showed this country has 2.1 million child workers -- as well as 150,000 street children, a number that is increasing every day, eight million abandoned children and an equal number of poorly nourished infants.

Additional facts make for stark reading: 50,000 children have experienced sexual abuse, 1.8 million are drug abuse victims, not to mention the 300,000 children trapped in conflict areas.

YKAI president Lily Ismudiati Rilantono believes the problem is rooted in the enduring perception of children as objects.

"When YKAI was first established 25 years ago, it was really difficult to emphasize the view of children as subjects, that a baby is born with ability, and that it has to be given opportunities and also the freedom to develop," said Lily, also a pediatrician and cardiologist.

Although a quarter of a century has passed, the perception remains doggedly entrenched due to the feudal and patriarchal nature of Indonesian society.

On the government level, children's issues have yet to move to the core of the country's development focus, still put as an after-thought.

Lack of attention to children's welfare caused YKAI to postpone the celebration of the foundation's anniversary on July 17, as all eyes were still on the presidential election.

"We'll just wait until the (September) presidential runoff is completed. Maybe around November," said Lily of the postponed celebration.

Still active at 72, including running her medical practice twice a week, Lily has built a reputation as a formidable children's rights activist, but experience has taught her to be no longer surprised by the prevailing ignorance.

Asked if the reform era brought more enlightened attitudes toward children's welfare, she only smiled and said, "What do you think?"

The president of the foundation since 1998, Lily's interest on child welfare dates back to her first years as a pediatrician.

The clinic was always packed with poor people who rarely came back when asked to because they did not have the money.

"Since then I talked and talked about children's issues like a vendor hawking her wares," said Lily, who obtained her specialist degree in France and Canada.

Some people listened up, however, including then first lady, the late Tien Soeharto, who asked Lily to form a children's foundation. Lily was a secretary treasurer for the ASEAN Pediatric Foundation at the time.

Children's rights advocacy became her main concern when YKAI was founded.

Aside from disbursing scholarships to needy children, other achievements of the foundation include the recognition of children and teenagers in the State Policy Guidelines (GBHN), initiating the Asia Pacific Forum for Child Welfare and the International Forum for Child Welfare, and forming groups of concerned mothers and children all over the country.

Lily's international network and recognition has led her to several important positions, including president of the Asia Pacific Forum in 1994, a member of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in 2000 and the World Health Organization's expert committee member on cardiovascular until now.

YKAI was also one of the initiators of a shelter for street children.

Back in the early 1990s, the term "street children" was rejected by Tien Soeharto because it was considered "not in line" with the state ideology Pancasila.

"So we conducted research and analysis, showing how prone street children are to drugs, (victimization by) criminals, disease ... for they have their own community and culture," Lily said.

Instead of the foundation waiting for the government to act, several international institutions were interested in the research findings and offered funding. The first shelter was built in 1994, and today there are two.

"A shelter is not a permanent solution, it's a transitional stage to shape the children's point of view, to regain their dignity and self esteem. It has to be from their own willingness to change, to go back to school or return to their parents as many are runaways."

Some have criticized the shelters as ineffective because they became a facility where street children get free food and a place to stay, instead of learning skills to help them in their lives.

"But it's still effective, if it is run well. The problem occurred because some people used it as a project to get funding," Lily said.

Environmental activist Emmy Hafild once criticized children's organizations as unable to address the issue at the national level, including conducting political lobbying without becoming part of the system.

"Environmental problems are different from children's issues," Lily countered. "The latter has no political (or business) angle, whereas it can be a political strategy."

Amid the criticism, many improvements have been made, she said, such as the increase in children's participation through the forum for Indonesian child development and teenage parliament programs.

"But we can't exploit the children. Many NGOs like to dramatize things to get funding. That's the nature of a developing country," Lily said, adding that YKAI uses an independent auditing process for its donations.

With the programs continuing, one of the urgent things to do is special protection amid increased trafficking and child exploitation in the sex and drug industries.

However, the toughest obstacle is the endorsement of the children's rights convention and law, Lily said.

"Many people, including legislators, don't know what the children's right convention is exactly, even though we very much depend on them. The government should really serve the people. It should not be drunk with power."

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