Joint efforts to improve the lot of adolescents

by Omar RAJARATHNAM

Twenty-eight out of 1,000 child births in Sri Lanka are of girls between the ages of 15 and 19, according to a UNICEF report on ‘The State of the World’s Children 2011’. The report was presented to Minister of Youth Affairs and Skills Development Dullas Alahapperuma by UNICEF’s representative for Sri Lanka Reza Hossaini on Friday at the Ministry. The report also highlighted the challenges facing the adolescent population of the country which stands at three million.

“Children are neglected to a great extent when they reach adolescence”, said Hossaini. “They need to be supported through this tough period as this is the time when their personality is formed. Hence parental and Governmental support is important for them to improve their skills as they are not only the future of the world, but are also part of today,” said Hossaini.

Professor of Law of the University of Colombo Savithri Goonasekara said that data on adolescents would not be beneficial if the Education Ministry, Health Ministry and Youth Affairs and Skills Development Ministry do not work together. “The report defines the age of adolescence between the ages of 10 and 19, but in the Sri Lankan context adolescence ends at 18 and we must make our population aware of these issues”, she said.

“Our education system needs to synchronise with all these awareness programs that the UNICEF or any other humanitarian organisations conduct.” She said that girls in Sri Lanka undergo a difficult adolescence compared to boys due to cultural influences and social norms.

“The report says that 54 percent of adolescent girls feel it is acceptable for a woman to be beaten by her husband. We need to work on fixing this wrong perception before responsible citizenship fails further. Prioritisation is imperative when resolving these issues, all investment on children will be wasted if we don’t teach them basic life skills first.

They are encouraged to improve soft skills, but it is our responsibility to instill wisdom in these adolescents, hence we need to review many investments planned for them”, Prof. Goonasekara said. According to the report, Sri Lanka has been ranked 118th out of 193 countries for mortality rates under the age of five. The primary school enrolment rate was 99 percent, one of the highest in the region.