Secreatariat for ASEAN, Japan NGOs

Secreatariat for ASEAN, Japan NGOs

JAKARTA: Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Japanese NGOs
have agreed to set up a joint secretariat in order to coordinate,
monitor and evaluate programs for deprived children in the
region.

Research by the Japan Non-Governmental Organization Network
(JANIC) from January 2001 through January 2002 showed that
deprived children in ASEAN have been living in extreme poverty
since the economic crisis struck the region in 1997 and their
condition has been aggravated by poor education and health, child
abuse, child labor, child trafficking and sexual exploitation.

JANIC said Indonesia's street children tripled to 150,000 in
2002. The number of child laborers rose to 11.7 million, 425
children were reported to have contracted HIV/AIDS and child drug
addicts reached 3 million throughout the country. This compared
with 1.5 million street children in the Philippines, 620,000
child laborers in Cambodia and 220,000 child laborers in
Malaysia.

The NGOs, which concluded their three-day international
conference in Jakarta on Saturday, also agreed to exchange
information, organize joint seminars, training and publications
on deprived children in the region.-- JP