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Summary: Full text of children's keynote address to the
East Asia and Pacific Regional consultation on
violence against children.
Our region the “South East Asia Pacific” consists of 13 countries coming as
far as New Zealand to Mongolia to attend this conference. There are two
delegates from every country with an equal number of boys and girls
participating in the forum. For the last two days we have been working
together in thematic groups, discussing the priority issues for children as
well as recommendations to lessen the violence against children in our
region.
Our keynote presentation includes:
- Importance of child participation
- What we did in our forum
- Main issues concerning children of the region
- Short and long term goals
How will the Under 18 delegates continue to participate in the UN
study on violence against children?
By keeping ourselves informed as researchers and by sharing our
experiences and views specific to our countries.
Participation in the national and regional consultation, in planning of the
research for the study and examining what the information collected
means and being part of the implementation of the outcomes.
Why is children’s participation so important?
We believe that when a child participates we can contribute new insights
into the issues children find most important, and provide an improved
understanding about the rights of children. We are able to give
recommendations, and will become partners in the future implementation
of strategies.
How can young people’s participation be meaningful?
Participation is meaningful when we involve children in different levels of
consultations; recognizing young people’s opinions. Also involvement in
planning, advocacy, decision making, implementation, monitoring and
evaluation
What we have been doing in our forum?
As a group we have come a long way in a very short amount of time. There
was the initial cautious nervousness, quickly broken by ice breaker games,
and even performing a haka together! Mixing 14 different countries and
cultures together resulted in an atmosphere of trust and friendship
because of the respect we treated each other with. We shared knowledge
of violence against children in our respective countries and discovered that
while our countries may be very different, the issues affecting our peers
are the same.
Communicating in English through translators, we discussed violence
against children before breaking out into the 7 thematic groups of the
conference in which we went into greater depth; creating
recommendations to the issues we find the most important.
Why has our participation been unique?
We are all under 18!!!!!!!!! We are pure! We just say what we think
without filtering. We are representing the children of our countries. We
bring our ideas, as well as their ideas, to the forum. And discuss them with
children from other countries.
In “violence against children”, children are the ones who are being hurt.
We have to voice out and take action in order to protect ourselves! We
are children. We can communicate with children more easily. We can help
to reflect the view of the victims.
It is more difficult for us to participate in an international forum than an
adult participating in such a forum because most of us do not know
English. We need our parent’s consent. We need the support from the
community, from our parents / guardians and from you! And the chance for
children to participate in an international forum is limited.
Although this topic is serious and wide-ranging, we feel passionate about
making a difference and we are not afraid to carry the responsibility of
representing our peers!
These are the issues we found to be the most important in the 7
thematic groups:
1. Violence against children in the home
In many cases in different cultures and traditions there is conflict with the
ever changing technology and society reforms of the 21st century thus
contributing to the violence against children in the home and family.
Issues:
- Divorce or marriage break-up
- Child Labour
- Verbal Abuse
- Sexual Abuse
- Physical Abuse
- Neglect
2. Violence against children in the street and community
The priority issues include:
- Drugs, alcohol, crime etc related to “GANGS”.
- All forms of child abuse of children on the streets and in the
community
- Pornography on the streets
- Discrimination, cultural and custom conflicts
- Hunger on the streets
- Maltreatment from shop owners, bus drivers, police officers especially
towards street children
- No freedom of expression
- Child trafficking
3. Violence against children in school
Issues:
- Corporal punishment by teachers and other school personal
Example: Teachers threatening students
- School bullying by peers, both physical and mental
Example: students fighting each other
- Mental abuse by teachers. Example: Discrimination by teachers
- Sexual abuse by teachers. Example : Molestation of students by teachers
Examples of what is already happening:
- Partnership of children’s association and UNICEF to create a child friendly
school (Philippines)
- Workshop on violence against children (in Indonesia and across this
region)
4. Violence against children in work situations
The priority issues are:
- Lack of education about children’s rights
- No opportunities for working children to study
5. Violence against children in conflict with the law
Priority Issues are:
- In all 14 countries represented at our Regional Consultation, corporal
punishment is permitted in the home
- Children are convicted through the adult justice system and often
imprisoned with adults
- Children are abused or feel threatened during the Police interrogation
process
6. Violence against children in institutions
Priority Issues are:
- Staff are saying bad hurting words to children
- Sometimes when children do not do their work, they are punished and
not allowed to eat
- Older children make younger children as personal servant
7. Violence against children in cyberspace
Definition:
- On the Internet
- New technology (e.g. mobile phone)
Priority Issues are:
- Children are cheated by bad people online
- Children meet up with the person they know online
- Sexual and Violent content online
- Hateful language and abusive messages sent online and through mobile
phones
- Icky things (e.g. weapons, drug, etc.) can be bought from online shops
easily
Key recommendations for issues
- Corporal punishment MUST be banned in homes, schools and as
a punishment in the justice system. Children need to be treated the same
as adults
- Government should fund organisations where children can
participate and discuss the violence in institutions.
- Have the UN, Governments and communities share information
and work together to prevent sexual violence happening to children in the
family. The UN, Governments and communities should help children who
have been victims of sexual violence. Implement strategies into our
governments and traditional societies. Implement strict laws for those who
commit sexual abuse.
- Draft regulations on child working conditions and minimum age
requirements and stronger provisions for punishment of perpetrators then
conduct trainings for adults about the UNCRC.
- Educate the children’s rights at school then every school should
have monitoring and implementation of legislations, regulations concerning
the torture of students, then orientation on children’s rights to teachers.
Vision for regional consultation
To build international unity to fight violence against children and to see the
recommendations of young people included in the solutions to lessen and
eliminate violence against children.
For young people and adults to become partners in understanding the
violence and to cooperate and work together in peace with adults
Vision for the future
To see young people expressing their views, concerns and issues affecting
them, and for governments in all the countries to prioritize the issue on
violence against children; giving appropriate funding and resources to
immediately respond to the violence that happens and strictly implement
laws to prevent violence.
Conclusion
This was our chance over 2 days together, to represent the 24 Under 18
delegates from East Asia and the Pacific, and to promote and convey the
issues that are most important to us and the millions of children we are
representing back in our home countries.
We need your support to stop violence against children, not just in our
region, but all over the world. There is a Chinese saying, “Gu Cheung Lan
Ming,” that means “no sound can be made if only one hand claps.” We,
children, are one hand. Adults are the other hand. The community is one
hand. The government is one hand… We strongly believe that a community
with peace, love and unity can be built if we work together for the future!
Audrey Kamali (Fiji)
Minnie Wah Man Yin (Hong Kong)
Maggie Harou (Papua New Guinea)
Cora M. Buala (Philippines)
Casey Haverkamp (New Zealand)
Bella Diyiyah Putri (Indonesia)
Owner: Under 18 Delegates’ Keynote Address