BY MARY JOY CAVAÑAS
ILOILO City – The welfare and rights of children are taking center stage as Western Visayas marks the 31st National Children’s Month.
Under the banner of this year’s theme, “Healthy, Nourished, Sheltered: Ensuring the Right to Life for All”, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Region 6 is mobilizing communities to fortify efforts in safeguarding the well-being of the region’s youngest members.
At a media forum on the event’s inaugural day, DSWD-6 director Atty. Carmelo Nochete underscored the enduring challenges in child protection, even as the nation commemorates over three decades of advocacy for children’s rights.
“As we mark this significant milestone, our resolve to uphold and fight for the rights of every child across provinces, cities, and villages remains unyielding. The Local Council for the Protection of Children is instrumental in this mission, and we urge everyone’s heightened commitment to this cause,” said Nochete.
Nochete further told parents to raise their children well.
Also present at the forum held at the Punta Villa Resort in Arevalo district here were members of the Regional Sub-Committee for the Welfare of Children (RSCWC).
During the kickoff ceremony, the DSWD-6 and RSCWC also introduced the Mahalin at Kalingain ang ating mga Bata (Makabata) helpline 1383, which is expected to be operational next year.
“The Makabata helpline primarily aims to develop a mechanism that will provide quick response, monitoring, and feedback through calls, electronic mail, and different social media platforms,” said RSCWC regional coordinator Franz Hermocillas.
It provides services to all children, parents, and adolescents with varied needs relating to child rights and concerns.
This year’s National Children’s Month celebration has the theme, “Healthy, Nourished, Sheltered: Ensuring the Right to Life for All,” putting a spotlight on the importance of healthcare, nutrition and shelter in a child’s development.
The celebration, in particular, aims to promote evidence-based and inclusive healthcare and nutrition services as well as interventions for children. It also aims to equip children, parents and caregivers with the right information to prevent health misinformation and disinformation.
In Western Visayas, the celebration aims to focus on the present issues involving children such as mental health issues, teenage pregnancy, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) cases.
CWC data showed of the 7,935,531 total population of Western Visayas, 38 percent are children.
According to CWC, as of this year, teenage pregnancy rate or the adolescent birth rate of female children aged 15 to 19 years old reached 22.31 percent.
For HIV cases, at least eight children below 15 years old acquired the disease from January to June this year.
Meanwhile, in terms of suicide incidents, CWC data showed a total of 21 children aged below 16 years old committed such from January to July 2023 while 102 young adults (17-30 years old) committed suicide during the same period.
Family problems were the primary causes, CWC added./PN
