THE United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) was established in 1946 to safeguard the lives of children striving to survive in the aftermath of World War II. That was 72 years ago and the UNICEF today continues to carry out its mission to help children all over the world, including the Philippines which is celebrating UNICEF Month this November, 2018.
In 1990, the Philippines ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child and two years later issued a Philippine Action Plan for Children, with the aid of UNICEF which provided clinical inputs and guidance to the government.
In 2008, UNICEF initiated the Days of Peace campaign, providing essential services to conflict-affected areas in Mindanao, with emphasis on children who were most vulnerable to exploitation as their daily life and education were disrupted. The next year 2009, the UN Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict, with the UNICEF and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front an action plan to protect children. As a result, 1,869 children, 620 of whom were girls, were disengaged from the MILF ranks and the UN delisted the MILF from its record of armed groups recruiting and using children.
UNICEF’s work to protect children affected by emergencies has been one of the hallmarks of the organization’s work in the Philippines. After super-typhoon Yolanda, the strongest typhoon ever to hit the country, struck Samar and Leyte in November, 2013, leaving 6,300 dead, 1.601, missing, and 28,689 injured, UNICEF stepped in with its partners to help 43,907 children.
In 2016, UNICEF and the Council for the Welfare of Children released the results of a National Baseline Survey on Violence against Children, a culmination of five years’ work, which revealed that a staggering 80 percent of children and youth experienced violence in their lifetime – in homes, in schools, and in their own communities. Subsequently, UNICEF became a key participant in formulating the Philippine Plan of Action to End Violence against Children.
Today, UNICEF has partnered with the private sector, particularly telecom firms Smart and PLDT to raise public awareness on the need for child online protection, and with Globe Telecom to help integrate child online safety with the curriculum of the Department of Education. Cyber violence is a problem that did not exist some decades ago but today’s cyberworld is rife with violence and threats to children’s rights and safety.
These have been 72 years of work in helping protect children’s rights in the Philippines, for which we are grateful for the efforts of the UNICEF. We look forward to its continuing work for the rights of Filipino children and of other children around the world.
