Sunday, March 25, 2007 Regional heads asked to put acts together for children
COUNCIL for the Welfare of Children Executive Director Lina Laigo called on regional directors to put their acts together in advancing the rights of children.
Gracing the signing of the Pledge of Commitment to the Vision and Mission of the Regional Sub-Committee for the Welfare of Children (RSCWC), Laigo asked regional directors involved in the regional body for children's concern, to help rear much better children "five years from now."
She cited current situation of children who were prone to violence, tied to misdemeanor, out of school, among other conditions disadvantageous to their total development.
"You have a chance to do a share" to advance children's rights, she told regional directors who pledged cooperation and assistance in realizing the RSCWC mission anchored on institution building, technical assistance, advocacy, resource mobilization, monitoring and evaluation, collaboration and partnership.
Laigo also urged officials of the regional offices of government agencies to pay attention on the situation of children at the community level.
While the Philippines is being looked up to in terms of initiatives in advancing children's rights, the situation is different at the local level, Laigo noted.
Spearheaded by the department of Social Welfare and Development, RSCWC involved agencies are the departments of interior and local government, health, education, labor, agriculture, and justice.
The national statistics office, statistical coordination board, economic and development authority, commission on indigenous people and the nutrition council are also taking part in the sub-committee as well as the Commission on Human Rights, Philippine National Police, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology and the Philippine Information Agency.
It also gathers the participation of non-government organizations (NGOs), KABIBA, Kabataan Consortium, Kamalayan Development Foundation and the children representatives to the National Anti-Poverty Commission.
Aside from the CWC, the RSCWC also operates under the auspices of the United Nations Children's Fund which is currently focusing on Local Policy and Institutional Development (LPID) in its networking at the regional level.
