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Bangkok, 16 June – “Violence is not inevitable but rather an injustice that
can be ended by recognising that peace is a human right and that this
responsibility belongs to everyone,” more than 250 delegates proclaimed
at the end of the three-day Regional Consultation on Violence Against
Children.
Anupama Rao Singh, UNICEF Regional Director, urged all delegates to
begin the work of putting the recommendations in place immediately
rather than waiting for the UN Study on Violence Against Children report to
give them direction. The Regional Consultation is one of nine meetings
worldwide that will contribute to a worldwide UN study on violence against
children that will be finalised in 2006.
“Everyday children are exposed to violence in their lives that continues to
compromise their right to grow up loved, safe, respected and protected. It
also threatens society’s social and economic stability, laying the seeds for
larger conflict,” Singh said. “Yet the recommendations proposed at this
Consultation are doable and demonstrate that this is a problem we can
address if we are willing to commit at every level, including the higher
echelons of Government, to act now.” She also stressed that ending
violence is an overarching development goal.
Presenting the final Consultation Statement, Lina Laigo, Executive Director,
Council for the Welfare of Children in the Philippines, concluded that “the
cycle of violence can only be broken by creating a culture of peace and
harmony; by improving cooperation among children, adults, communities,
civil society, governments and international agencies; and by recognising
that violence against children and in society as a whole, is not inevitable
but rather an injustice that can be ended by recognising that peace is a
human right. This responsibility belongs to everyone.”
After careful deliberation based on experiences, practical examples and
existing strategies, the seven working groups developed key
recommendations on how to combat and prevent violence in the specific
settings where it occurs. The delegates also agreed on common
approaches to combating violence against children, including:
Raise awareness and strengthen capacity
· Parents and families need help to better understand issues of
violence against children and to develop non-violent parenting skills. More
must be done to educate parents and the public at large by increasing
awareness and understanding of child rights.
Review and develop appropriate legislation, policy and guidelines
· Although all countries in the region have some legislative
mechanisms in place for the protection of children against violence and
abuse, the delegates agreed that often enforcement of child protection
legislation tends to be hampered by factors such as the lack of clear
definitions on the types of violence and maltreatment specified in relevant
laws, lack of implementation guidelines and resources for enforcement.
The delegates called for better laws, policies and guidelines to be put in
place to prevent and punish acts of violence against children, and also an
effort to harmonise those laws and guidelines regionally.
Improve programmes, services and standards
· With countless children unable to benefit from preventative and
protective services, the delegates urged the development of better
programmes, services and standards to manage cases of abuse and
violence.
More effective monitoring and evaluation
· The delegates agreed that there is a lack of comprehensive and
systematic data collection, reporting and monitoring systems. Given the
sensitivities of violence against children at the individual, family, community
and state levels, there is limited information and quantitative data. While
studies and research have been undertaken to address many aspects,
typically they are limited in scope, either by geographical or population
coverage.
Making children active partners in all efforts to combat violence
· Child participation is crucial to the success of putting in effective
mechanisms to combat violence. Children need to be included in
researching, decision-making, implementation and evaluation processes.
The participation needs to be done at all levels: community, national,
regional and international.
Detailed recommendations from each of the working group sessions of the
consultation also were developed and include:
· As anecdotal evidence suggests that violence against children in
the home and family is a severe problem in the East Asia and the Pacific
and corporal punishment in the home is practised in all countries,
delegates urged a ban on corporal punishment. The delegates called for
an end to early marriage, which often forces girls into a life of violence and
abuse. They also recommended greater efforts to educate parents to
better understand and respect children’s rights.
· Although data and information on violence in schools is scarce
and studies specifically related to violence against children in school have
only been conducted in a few countries, anecdotal evidence indicates the
problem is widespread. The working group on violence against children in
schools called for a ban on corporal punishment and also recommended
better pre- and in-service training courses for headmasters, school
administrators and teachers. The working group recommended that better
services such as peer counselling and support be offered to victims of
school violence and urged the establishment of child-friendly learning
environments, better child rights education and a more active effort to
promote violence-free schools.
· Many street children are driven out of their homes as a
consequence of abuse and neglect – a situation reiterated in many studies
on street children in this region as well as elsewhere. Once on the streets
they continue to be at even greater risk of physical, emotional and sexual
abuse. The working group on violence against children in street and
community called for an urgent end to impunity against those who
perpetrate abuse of street children’s rights with better services to address
their needs. They also called for stronger public awareness against
misconceptions and discrimination against children on the street and
marginalised children.
· With child labour prevalent in many countries of the region, the
working group on violence against children in work situations stressed the
need for greater clarity on the meaning and characteristics of “violence in
the workplace, especially in the informal sector”. They recommended the
development of concrete protection procedures and more regulation of
workplaces through the training of officials to ensure better law
enforcement and monitoring of abuses.
· To address the shortcomings in many of the national juvenile
justice systems in the region that increase the vulnerability children to
violence and abuse, the working group on children in conflict with the law
recommended that more focus on restorative justice where children should
only be detained as the last resort, and for the shortest time possible,
rather than rely on punitive and retributive justice. They recommended
comprehensive juvenile justice law based on international law, especially
in countries like Cambodia, Fiji, Lao PDR, Mongolia, Philippines and Timor-
Leste, where children often are incarcerated with adults.
· A ban on corporal punishment was the key recommendation on
combating and preventing violence against children in institutions. The
working group called for better criteria for the placement and care of
children in institutions and for alternative care. They also recommended
better training for caregivers, providers and managers to understand child
rights and for governments to put in place better guidelines for registering,
licensing, accrediting and monitoring all state and private institutions.
· With cyber violence against children in the region growing,
including child pornography, online grooming for sexual abuse, stalking,
bullying and exposure to harmful content, the working group on violence
against children in cyberspace recommended that each country adopt a
National Plan of Action to protect children from cyber crimes and urged that
policies and enforcement reach all levels of the community. The working
group urged provisions for quality care for children harmed by cyber
crimes, special child-cyber crime response units and national reporting
hotlines. The media and information technology industry should be
required, either by regulation or Codes of Conduct, to actively protect
children by funding education campaigns and reporting hotlines and by
regulating industry members, such as Internet cafes. Regionally, the
working group recommended that all laws, regulations and standards be
harmonised, cooperation among law enforcement agencies and hotline
services and the sharing of research and good practice models.
Speaking on behalf of the NGO group, Dominique Pierre Plateau, Save the
Children Sweden Regional Advisor on Prevention of Child Abuse and
Exploitation, highlighted “the spirit of collaboration and joint commitment
shared by NGOS, governments, young people and UN agencies in order to
address the problem together.” Both local and international NGOs,
including those in the steering committee that organized the Regional
Consultation, were particularly active in facilitating the meaningful
participation of 26 children from 12 countries. Children’s participation must
be central to any action against violence toward children,” Mr. Plateau
added. “The consultation really benefited from the young people’s inputs.
Their contributions were invaluable.”
“In seeking to make progress toward achieving this goal, we will need to
involve not only governments and their development partners but all
members of society, including civil society and the private sector,” noted
Pracha Maleenond, Minister of Social Development and Human Security
Ministry of Social Development and Human Security from the Royal
Government of Thailand, as he officially closed the consultation.
The child delegates at the consultation threw down a challenge to all
governments to take immediate action to protect children’s rights. Ms. Guo
Congcong from China said full participation by children in combating and
preventing violence against them posed a huge challenge to traditions and
customs in the region. “Many children in East Asia and the Pacific region
are regarded as adults’ possessions. From today on, we are determined to
change this attitude and work together with adults on violence against
children.”
With so many children around the world suffering poverty, neglect,
discrimination and severe violence, said Guo Congcong, children should not
keep silent any more and should “bravely say ‘No!’ to violence against
children”.