Protection campaign to safeguard rights of the young

By Rita A. Widiadana

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto launches a child protection campaign this morning in conjunction with National Children's Day to battle physical and emotional mistreatment.

The ceremony will take place at Sasono Langgeng Budoyo Hall at Taman Mini Indonesia Indah in East Jakarta.

Minister for Social Affairs Inten Soeweno said yesterday that child welfare was an integral part of the country's development. She was speaking at the launching of Progress of Nation, an annual report by Unicef on international conditions of children.

"It is high time for the government and other related parties to pay more serious attention to the protection of their children," she said. "An intensive campaign must be implemented in the next few months to enforce necessary laws and regulations to help children achieve the most in their lives."

Studies are currently underway on formulating the campaign.

Inten said children were the nation's most valuable asset and their protection should be guaranteed by law. Strategic measures were needed to safeguard the young against physical exploitation, emotional abuse, neglect and poverty.

Proposed laws include regulating child workers, children's rights and juvenile courts.

Although Indonesia ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Children (CRC) in 1990 and is in the process of translating this commitment into action under the current Five-Year Development Plan, Inten conceded that child protection remains weak.

"There is still a lack of awareness among related government agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as well as the community on child protection efforts."

The minister named poverty as another obstacle to boosting child welfare. "We cannot deny that Indonesia has been experiencing substantial economic growth. Yet, problems of children remain very serious."

The Unicef report stated that Indonesia's rapid and consistent economic growth during the past quarter century and its integration into the global economy has resulted in widespread socioeconomic changes.

People living below the poverty line declined from 60 percent in 1969 to 14 percent in l993. Poverty is defined as a monthly income below Rp 27,413 in rural areas and Rp 38, 246 for urban areas. Indonesia has also recorded significant declines in infant mortality (145 per 1,000 live births in l967 to 58 in 1993) and under-five mortality (from 218 per 1,000 live births to 78), and national school enrollment of 94 percent.

Negative fall-out from these economic achievements includes weakening of the extended family and community networks manifested in vulnerable/marginalized groups like street children and child laborers. Reports of child abuse and sexual exploitation have been increasing in the last few years.

Bleak

Latest data from the Ministry of Social Affairs and the National Statistics Bureau paints a bleak picture of the condition of Indonesian children. About 2.1 million children aged between 10 and 14 years are part of the country's workforce.

There are 50,000 street children and 270,000 young people are involved in juvenile delinquency, such as drug abuse. About 60 percent of the 71,000 residents in prostitution rehabilitation centers are young girls, who are at high risk for contracting the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and other sexually transmitted diseases.

The Indonesian government is cooperating with Unicef for the 1995-2000 period in the following programs;

1. Undertaking research on selected categories of children in need of special protection, in order to improve quantitative and qualitative data regarding the scale and nature of the problems.

2. Program strategy development leading to long-term activities in street children and child labor, based on research findings and recommendations from the above studies/surveys.

3. Intensive advocacy towards key policy makers, NGOs and other influential figures on the protection and development aspects of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

4. Legal reform and enforcement including juvenile justice, child welfare and child labor.

5. Planned pilot projects on street and working children with local government and NGOs in Bandung (West Java), Semarang (Central Java) and Ujungpandang (South Sulawesi).

Progress of Nation finds the condition of Indonesian children is generally improving, but health problems, particularly four leading nutritional deficiencies, persist in varying rates. Low rates of exclusive breastfeeding and inappropriate complementary feeding practices are considered major obstacles to improving the nutritional status of young children in Indonesia. The study is expected to be the basis of future breakthrough in improvement of young children.

Protein Energy Malnutrition (PEM) usually children under five years and pregnant women. There has been a considerable decline in severe cases among young children, but there is still 38 percent prevalence among children below five years.

Vitamin A deficiency, known by its medical name xerophthalmia and formerly a widespread cause of infant blindness, has been almost entirely eradicated since 1992. The current rate of xerophthalmia prevalence is 0.3 percent among children under five years.

Iodine deficiency has also shown a rapid decline following the Universal Salt Iodation program begun seven years ago.

Nutritional anemia continues to be a problem for Indonesians of all age groups, and more than half of pregnant women suffer from the disorder. Nutritional anemia in general is often overlooked and disregarded as a serious disorder because its effects are not readily apparent.

But anemia impairs physical and mental growth of young children and increases the risk of hemorrhage in pregnant mothers, contributing significantly to risk of maternal mortality.