Save the Children PHL: 1.8 million children at risk in Bangsamoro area

By Elijah Felice Rosales, Businessmirror, May 21, 2019

NONPROFIT Save the Children Philippines on Monday called on the government to improve living conditions in the Bangsamoro region to support and protect the about 1.8 million vulnerable children there.

Save the Children Philippines CEO Alberto T. Muyot said children are the most in danger in conflict areas, as their fragile bodies are in constant need of social and health protection. He identified children in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) as most vulnerable to conflict.

Data collected by Save the Children Philippines reported that 96.4 percent, or around 3.6 million, of the BARMM population are imperiled by the armed conflict there.

Of this number, the group said 48.8 percent, or 1.8 million of them are children. Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi make up the provinces under BARMM.

Save the Children Philippines mounted a special program on Monday to mark the centenary of the global Save the Children, which began as a response to the utter misery of thousands of children victimized by the first world war.

‘Stop the War’ campaign

The demand to ensure efficient delivery of social services in Bangsamoro is in line with Save the Children’s “Stop the War on Children” campaign, which seeks protection of some 420 million children around the world living in conflict zones.

“Across the world, children wake up to the sound of explosion of bombs, gunshots, suffer hunger and displacement, are orphaned and are separated from friends and classmates. The impact of war on children lingers beyond the area of conflict,” Muyot said.

The lack of access to social services, such as health care, water and sanitation, aggravates the situation, he added.

The number of deaths of children five years old and below due to armed conflict reached about 870,000 between 2013 and 2017, according to data from Save the Children. The group claimed this is way higher than the estimated 175,000 adult fighters who died during the same period.