Do not neglect child poverty

Do not neglect child poverty

Erita Narhetali
Director
Institute for Marginalized
Children Studies
Jakarta

Minister of Social Affairs Bachtiar Chamsyah has admitted that
the problem of street children has been poorly addressed. All of
the concerned departments run their own programs separately, so
the overall problem remains unsolved, according to the minister.

On top of the problem of a lack of coordination and of a
comprehensive solution, the minister also revealed that a program
of "shelters", or halfway houses (rumah singgah), had proven to
be ineffective despite being funded by loans.

Thus the government decided to stop funding the program this
year, and a new approach will be developed to assist street
children by helping their families. Research has showed that 90
percent of street children in shelters still have a family, but
economic need drives them to the streets. It is this economic
need of the family that will be addressed.

However, at least two things must first be clarified.

First, the problem of street children is not only about
economics. It also involves psychology, law and politics. Instead
of only providing them food, health services and education,
children need to be treated as human beings, with love and care
as well as protection. Many children in this country are victims
of violence, negligence, exploitation, mistreatment and
discrimination, along with a severe lack of basic need
fulfillment.

Second, street children are not the only children who are
suffering. According to Seto Mulyadi, the chairman of the
National Commission for Child Protection, the country must deal
with the problems of child labor, child trafficking, child
prostitution, street children, children in conflict areas and
undernourished children.

This reality implies the urge to have child problems tackled
comprehensively, not partially. We must go beyond partial
policies such as the cheap education for poor children run by the
Ministry of National Education, the shelters for street children
run by the social ministry, and arresting street children and
charging them with disturbing public order, which is overseen by
local governments. This is because the children learn how to cope
and even benefit from such circumstances.

They move around from shelter to shelter looking for one that
provides more food, clothes, toys and pleasure. They eventually
master ways to escape from rehabilitation houses, and drop out of
school to earn money from the streets again. Thus our policies
appear like a blind man trying to shoot flying birds.

Now all we need is to ensure that the right policies are in
place, tackling not just the symptoms of child problems but also
the root causes.

Mostly, root causes can be traced to poverty and deprivation.
Thus, combating poverty will be more effective when it is done in
combination with the fight for child rights protection. This
demand is even greater since we ratified the Convention on the
Rights of the Child in 1990.

Child's rights are useful for implementing a comprehensive
policy based on the principal of the "best interest of the
child".

Analyzing poverty based on children's interests is also
crucial because the seeds of poverty and lack of opportunity are
sown in childhood. Children of poor families tend to have a lower
birth weight, higher infant mortality and poorer health. Then
they are less likely to stay in school and acquire fewer skills.
In adulthood they will have more disadvantages, such as earning
less money and dying younger.

These considerations must be taken into account as the
government pledges to eradicate the problem of street children
using a "family approach". As the number of people who experience
poverty has increased, the number of children who live in poverty
has risen sharply as well.

Turning child-based problems into a family poverty problem
would be detrimental to the children, and it also would be
ineffective unless we can assure children's rights.

It is indeed a cliche that we still have no integrated policy,
nor the political will, to overcome both child poverty and the
abuse of child rights. Child issues are often discounted for more
politically valuable issues. Financial difficulties also have
been blamed as a big obstacle from time to time.

In fact, tackling child poverty is not just improving
individual lives, it is also an economic necessity. Everyone pays
for poverty and everyone benefits when communities have more
jobs, better health, less crime and higher expectations for their
children.

In Indonesia, the problem is a lack of organizing resources,
rather than a lack of resources. A large number of funding
bodies, donors and NGOs, both domestic and international, have
implemented significant budgets and programs concerning child
issues since the last decade.

Unhappily, most of the programs were not designed to be
sustainable. And as long as we treat child poverty only in terms
of charity, or with short-term programs, we will continue to
fail.

Tackling child poverty is obviously a long-term commitment
supported by professionals, with no place for being half-hearted.
Our Constitution confirms that this country is responsible for
taking care of neglected children. So the government should grab
the initiative and organize this movement seriously.

Start by making child poverty a national issue. Financial
problems? Besides overseas funding, we have huge opportunities in
empowering local communities to manage fund-raising. Many people
are interested in being donors, but we can hardly find the right
access, well-organized fund management or a trustworthy
institution.

Ineffective shelters? Set up a national standard requirement
and regulations for maintaining shelters, so people can be
assured that children's needs are fulfilled adequately in the
concerned shelters, with no mistreatment or exploitation. We can
learn from other countries about how best to run such shelters.

Other difficulties could be reduced by networking with other
ministries, NGOs or academics. There is so much more left to do.
We should not let the facts of street children, child labor,
child trafficking, child prostitution and other child rights
violations remain mere statistics. Not any more.