Groups map out action plan for children

THE Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC) recently held the second national plan of action for children (NPAC) at the Golden Prince Hotel and Suites.

With the theme, “Catching up with the millennium development goals (MDGs),” the three-day NPAC 2011-2016 Visayas cluster consultation was participated by the 35 members of the regional sub-committee for the welfare of children (RSCWC) from the clusters in Regions 6,7 and 8.

Among those who attended the event, which discussed the concerns and welfare of the children, were representatives from the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Education, Department of Health, Commission on Human Rights, Department of Interior and Local Government, law enforcers from the police and the National Bureau of Investigation and non-government organizations.

Stakeholders

Regina Molera, CWC consultant, said the primary purpose of the activity was to consult
with the stakeholders whether the goals and plans are relevant and helpful to the program.

Molera talked about the national situation of children and women, and the eight
selected MDGs indicators namely, eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, achieving primary universal education, promoting gender equality, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, combating human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, malaria and other diseases, ensuring environmental sustainability and developing a global partnership for development.

She, however, admitted that achieving some of these goals is very difficult.

Molera identified education, poverty, maternal mortality rate, child pornography and child trafficking as the most alarming issues that need to be addressed.

For 14-year-old Reynante Nicor, one of the participants of the workshop, the most alarming issues of the children at present are gang wars, broken families, and poverty. (Faith Marie Sumalinog, CNU Mass Comm intern)