What about the children?

Who will champion the cause of 6.5 million Lanka's junior citizens?:

by Anuradha Kodagoda

A child domestic wahing pots www.sundayobserver.lk

Although children comprise one- third of the population in the country, the government invests less than 10 percent of the annual national expenditure for children and over 15,000 children still live in institutions. According to statistics the low birth weight is 16.6 percent and stands at 31 percent in the estate sector.

In 2012, 9382 child abuse cases had been reported, comparatively twice the number of cases reported in 2011, which was 4445.

"The complex situation flowing from devolution of power from the centre to the provinces in probation and child care services, health, education and social welfare has created challenges in ensuring efficacy and quality of services. Although, 1,312 government officials dedicated to child-related services have been appointed by successive governments at different levels of the governance structure, there is an urgent need to synchronize central and provincial powers and functions," said Dr. Charika Marasinghe.

"Challenges encountered by children often get side-lined due to the low priority they attract from the political leadership and policy makers. This agenda aims at influencing political will for children and increasing their commitment to children within a good governance framework. The national agenda on child rights governance elucidates six commitments relating to child protection, education, health and social welfare directly impacting on the children of our country.

Child protection

"It will be presented to representatives of political parties contesting the August election to impress upon them the need to streamline the services in child protection, health, education and social welfare to make those services well-coordinated, effective and child-friendly," Dr Marasinghe further said.

National Agenda

The national agenda on child rights governance campaign is spearheaded by two veteran activists Professor Harendra de Silva and Lawyer, Kalyananda Tiranagama who is an authority on child rights and is supported by many child rights advocates and activists and people's organizations working for children across the island.

‘We have nowhere to go’ podawassa.blogspot.com

Nearly six and a half million children in Sri Lanka represent one third of the country's population and although we have reached many milestones regarding children and hold a position in the South Asian egion in child friendliness, there's a long way to go in terms of securing child rights in the country," said Prof. Harendra de Silva speaking at the launch of the National Agenda on Child Rights Governance.

Children's Rights

"Child Rights Governance focuses on creating and strengthening governance infrastructure - the systems and mechanisms that need to be in place to effectively make children's rights a reality. The purpose is to support country programs to encourage states to move forward faster in fulfilling children's rights, holding states to account for what they have or have not done and mobilizing civil society and possibly other actors to promote and defend children's rights and children's agency as citizens," Prof. De Silva further said.

At the launch, representatives of the national Children's Council stressed the importance of reform processes that strengthen child sensitive institutions and better deliver services for children, to providing children, girls and boys, and those that work to promote their interests, with opportunities to have a voice in decision-making, influence the political and economic levers of power, and the importance of holding them accountable for the achievement of child-focused outcomes.

Child with teddy boondionlineblogspoot.com

Kalyananda Thiranagama, said a rights-based approach to policy development that would respect children as a specific social group, that would recognise the complex and diverse nature of children and that would consider all children as the primary focus and target as necessary.He said that a rights-based approach would ensure, proactively, that the best interests of the child are taken as paramount in all matters relating to them.

It would facilitate the participation of children, according to their age and maturity, in matters affecting them within their families and society.