NGOs call for commission on children's rights

JAKARTA (JP): Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are calling on the government to establish a national commission on children's rights in order to better protect Indonesia's children, especially street children and child workers.

A group of 29 NGOs made the proposal here yesterday during a hearing with the House Commission VIII, which oversees health and social services.

The activists, who deal with neglected children on a daily basis, reminded legislators that Indonesia ratified the International Convention on Children's Rights in 1990. Consequently, the proposed commission would be a logical follow- up to the goal of protecting children.

The NGOs also said that the commission would be expected to work with the government in finding solutions to the problems of child workers and street children.

Sarsito Sarwono, the secretary-general of an NGO called the National Board on Social Welfare, said the commission should comprise government officials and NGOs activists. It should also help provide the government with inputs in drawing up regulations and laws on child affairs which can be implemented effectively, he said.

Sarsito explained the urgency of establishing such a commission in order to prevent the occurrences of child abuse. He acknowledged that some countries have worse records on abuse of children's rights.

"We wouldn't want things that have happened in Manila or Bangkok to happen here," he said.

The Philippines has some 1,500,000 street children as well as child workers. In Indonesia, about 50,000 children roam the streets of big cities such as Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan and Semarang which have been helped by the NGOS.

During the hearing presided over by Rustandi of the Golkar faction, the NGOS also criticized the government for laws that contradicted one another, often at the expense of children's welfare.

For example, the Ministry of Social Services is responsible for the welfare of neglected children, but the nine-year compulsory elementary education program is run by the Ministry of Education and Culture, the group's spokesman, Amrullah, said.

The problem of street children and child workers, however, was often left to the NGOs, he said. "There are no regulations which can comprehensively deal with the root of the problems of street children."

He pointed out that there are even regulations which aggravate the problem of street children. Jakarta, for instance, bans cars with less than three passengers from some thoroughfares during certain hours.

"This policy creates opportunities for poor children to work as 'jockeys': paid extra passengers," he said. "Then the police raid and arrest them."

Amrullah pointed out that Jakarta police have arrested 2,300 "jockeys". (01)