Child labor leads in violence against youngsters

by JONATHAN LLANES, 23 Oct 2019

PASIG CITY — Child labor remains to be the leading violation against children in the country as per data gathered by the Fundacion Educacion Cooperacion or Educo, a global development non-government organization.

Educado has over 25 years of experience acting in favor of children and in defense of their rights which advocates for their right to equitable, quality education.

In a two-day seminar on covering child’s rights in the Philippines, Sheila Base, resident social worker and educo child protection specialist, said as a child’s rights advocate and social worker by profession, records show this is the leading violation aside from other forms of violence against children in the Philippines.

“We view child labor as the biggest issue against children in the Philippines. This is followed by commercial sexual exploitation which cuts across tourism, trafficking including juvenile justice, aside from the context of children in emergencies,” Base said.

In the country, children’s rights violation data indicates that 31.4 percent of children are living below the basic needs and poverty line nationally with Bangsamorro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Barmm) leading followed by Bicol region which recorded second at 10.4 percent.

“Another issue that is not being discussed is children in emergencies which coves those involved in disasters and armed conflicts because during emergencies, there are risks that rises or adds and as compared to the reality at present, this is now a very big issue involving children. When an emergency like a disaster comes, society breaks down and the number of issues involving children is aggravated which is why it is very important to strengthen and to mainstream the child protection especially during emergencies on the program locally,” the Resident Social Worker stated.

Data gathered by Educo from the World Health Organization and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund also indicates that from the 49 percent fertility rate in 1997, 59.2 percent of births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 19 in 2015 shows low access to sexual and reproductive health.

“Based on the 2013 WHO and Unicef, there was a high and increasing rate of childhood stunting and underweight at 33 percent of children under five years of age or an increase from 30 percent in 2013, 21.5 percent were recorded as underweight or an increase from 20 percent in 2013,” Base pointed out.

Educo also shared a data showing a high rate of child mortality with 21 deaths in 1,000 live births and under five.

“One seen gap is the role of media in promoting the advocacy of child’s rights which is why many civil society organization are working for children’s rights and we see that media has a great impact in the community which is why strengthening and giving them the capacity to understand about children’s rights is very helpful in the process of the advocacy. So with this training, we seek to achieve our influence with other media organizations to have a child friendly way of reporting the news involving children,” Base added.