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Tuesday, November 04, 2003
Guv to push child program with or without Unicef
By Victor L. Camion
GOVERNOR George Arnaiz pledged Thursday to pursue the country's program for children, with or without support from the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef).
Arnaiz gave the assurance in his third State of the Children's Report before guests, children representatives from child-friendly pilot sites, and officials and members of different components of the 5th Country Program for Children (CPC-5) in Negros Oriental.
Unicef's CPC-5 officially terminates next year.
"But this does not mean that we will stop there. In fact, I assured Unicef that with or without Unicef support, the program will continue," Arnaiz vowed.
The governor said the province has already laid the groundwork to pursue the program.
He said the province has institutionalized the program through the passage of the Provincial Children's Code, the Gender and Development Code, the formulation of local development plans for children, and cascaded it to all towns, cities, and villages of Negros Oriental.
He added the province has set aside P5 million, of which P3 million will go to administrative costs, including provision of instructional and educational supplies and materials, medicines, vitamins, and medical supplies. The province also set aside P1 million each to repair school buildings and install water supply systems.
The governor stressed that children are the province's greatest resource and that they should be nurtured and protected.
"Atong ipadayon paghatag kanila ug mga kahigayonan alang sa ilang kalambuan (Let us continue to give them a chance to be successful in life)," Arnaiz said.
The governor challenged local executives to continue promoting the rights of children and women in the province. He also acknowledged the commitment of all mayors to support the program.
"Let us (take action) double time. If we make good marks in the Child-Friendly Movement, then we should have left a lasting legacy to our children," Arnaiz said.
Governor Arnaiz stressed that other CPC-V pilot provinces have not yet matched the province's achievement under the program.
He cited the town of Dauin that expanded its program to another three villages. Dauin and the town of Sibulan recently won second and first runner ups respectively in the regional search for Child-Friendly Municipality.
Gains with child-friendly movement
The governor underscored the province's gains in promoting the child-friendly movement:
* Infant mortality rate went down to 8.36 for every 1,000 live births in 2002 from 11.92 in 1995;
* Under-5 mortality rate went down to 12.83 in 2002, from 20.66 for every 1,000 live births in 1995;
* Maternal death rate dropped to 69.26 last year, from 83 for every 100,000 live births in 1995;
* Protein malnutrition went down to 5.91 per cent for 2nd and 3rd degree malnutrition last year from 6.5 per cent in 1995.
Arnaiz attributed these to the province's expanded activities on vaccination, vitamin and iron supplementation, introduction of iodized salt use and the implementation of the reproductive health program.
He said most hospitals in Negros Oriental have baby-friendly and mother-friendly facilities.
Moreover, the governor said child labor and physical and sexual abuse of women and children dropped to 848 last year from 1,285 in 2001.
Arnaiz explained that the slight increase on reported cases of crimes against children from 259 in the first quarter of 2002 to 296 of the same period indicates increased awareness on the rights of women and children.
"The increase in reportage indicates that there is now an increased awareness of women and children's rights, prompting victims and their relatives to come to the open and report to proper authorities," he explained.
Child labor
On child labor, the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole), foiled attempts to recruit a total of 176 minors for "paaling" fishing, as sacadas for sugarcane fields, and as domestic workers for Manila in the first three quarters of the year.
Last year, the Dole district office monitored 135 illegally recruited children.
The governor acknowledged the support of local and foreign organizations to promote the goals of the child-friendly movement.
These include the Department of Agrarian Reform and the Belgian Integrated Agrarian Reform Support Program through its health and nutrition project and milk-feeding program in 98 agrarian reform communities, the International Labor Organization, the Department of Agriculture, the Philippine Daily Authority, the Goretti Foundation, the Child Labour Centre, the Dumaguete Social Action Centre, and local media institutions.
(November 2, 2003 issue)
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