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The Philippines practical examples answer the question of what is the end goal of organising children: “It gives exposure to children’s concerns and views, moving them from invisibility to visible in the public domain.” 5 Child participation is a key part of World Vision’s work. Indicators are focused on changes in the lives of children themselves, as they become change agents in their communies with increased recognition from community leaders. Most of the key informants to this study were well-versed in the political ordinances at national, provincial and local levels with regard to child protection. While this is useful to gain approval for children’s organisation, it is also an opportunity to advocate on policy implementation. Impact of the project Young leaders Photo: Laurence Gray Building hope and promoting child rights through local agents of change is an achievement. Filipino children have become agents of change to increase access to schooling in villages and gain greater responses from different levels of government on children’s issues. These World Vision has participated with others in influencing the Board of Child Welfare to prioritise a request that the Provincial Government develop child protection legislation. Governance at provincial level in Bohol has been influenced to identify, through the Board of Child Welfare, the following priority areas for child protection: • domestic violence • drug addiction • sexual abuse • child involvement in armed conflict. A significant development in Bohol has been the children’s own role in identifying what they consider to be priority concerns to be addressed. One was the problem of solvent sniffing; another the need to advocate for safe and decent housing for children and families; and a third has been the need for children to advocate for peace. Key World Vision activities include: • training children/youth in leadership and facilitation • securing children’s opportunities to access quality education through day care centre construction, provision of playground facilities, school supplies, learning facilities, repair of school buildings and subsidised school fees • promotion of values such as respect, tolerance, forgiveness, compassion, justice, the God-given dignity of each person, and participation in community service and faith-based activities 6 • organising a 30-member children’s theatre group as an advocacy tool to promote child rights 5 Expanding Children’s Participation in Social Reform (ECPSR) project, Initiative Against Child Labor End-Of-Term Evaluation, Manila, 2001. See also: Building a Child-Friendly Nation published by the National ECPSR coalition of the four NGOs (World Vision Development Foundation, PLAN International, Christian Children’s Fund and ERDA Foundation), Manila, 2002. For reports of some achievements of the ECPSR project, see: http://www.unicef.org/philippines/Archive/ECPSR.htm and http://www.unicef.org/philippines/Archive/CFCL.htm 6 In most parts of the Philippines, Christianity is very visible and integrated into daily life, in a similar way to (for example) the high visibility of the Hindu faith in India or Bali. The study coordinator’s perception is that in the Bohol context, the church is seen as an important social institution of a community where faith has an important role; a focal point that is accessible and responsive to children’s concerns and provides a unifying or mobilising influence for change. In other countries/communities where Christianity is a minority religion, faith-based activities, if appropriate, would take a different form. World Vision’s understanding of the Christian faith is holistic – meaning that it involves a connection between personal faith, service to others, human rights and social justice, and caring for the earth. World Vision is interested in empowering people, including children, to be leaders in promoting compassion, justice and human dignity and rights, whatever their faith. WVDF recognises that the imposition of a majority “Christian” religion/culture has been associated with dispossession or injustice in some parts of the Philippines, and that even within a mostly Christian province, not everyone shares the same faith. World Vision respects freedom of religion, and proselytising is against World Vision International policy. 59
The Philippines • conducting a range of creative learning activities on social issues that children want to learn more about, with 80% of the total membership of Children’s Associations participating • advocating on exploitative child labour/child abuse with the Provincial Child Welfare Council and the Department of Labor; children from the Associations have a role in a provincial “caravan” information campaign to combat child labour • assisting in barangay (village) Child Protection Council formation; providing orientation to six municipalities, one city and 250 public school teachers; raising awareness of teachers on child-related laws and cases of child abuse • supporting the implementation of the Children’s Code • strengthening children’s organisation at the barangay, municipal, provincial and regional level so that they are implementing their own plans • working to ensure that children are represented at all levels of government; this has included achieving membership of the Bohol children’s organisation in the National Coalition of Children in the Philippines. Useful approaches to building child participation World Vision’s Child Protection policy The international World Vision policy on Child Protection 7 has been adopted by World Vision Development Foundation (WVDF) Philippines, and a national version developed and shared with local NGO and Children’s Association partners. This has assisted the inclusion of planning for child protection as part of an integrated program design. The national World Vision policy will be further localised in the districts. The Bohol World Vision team is drafting a child protection policy to this end, looking into critical provisions/areas in the existing policy. Advocacy includes support for the information caravan/campaign on child labour initiated by the Department of Labor. The aim is to educate parents and government officials on their responsibility to protect the children and to lessen, if not eradicate, child labour cases in the province. A dedicated National Child Protection Coordinator, assisting World Vision programs working on child protection issues to further strategic partnerships and support implementation, is a significant resource for this process. The Bohol Children’s Code 8 The Children’s Code is based on the CRC with its articulation of children’s rights closely following the four areas of survival, development, protection and participation. Of added significance is a section on responsibilities of the child, alongside rights, in the areas of: • leading a virtuous life • respecting the family • respecting elders • customs • laws • principles of democracy, and • children’s responsibility to exert effort in the pursuit of development, participate in the community, and help observe human rights and freedom everywhere. The Code ascribes roles and responsibilities to different institutions such as family, education, media, judiciary, and local government. It details the responsibility of local authorities to plan for and fund comprehensive programs for young people. It contains policy for prevention programs at local level, parenting courses, health care, recreation, and crisis intervention. It goes on 7 See Appendix for a summary of the World Vision Partnership’s Child Protection Policy. WVDF’s adaptation of this policy is available in an online “Toolkit” appendix to Children at Risk, at http://www.children.campaign.org. 8 More details of the Bohol Children’s Code are available in the online “Toolkit” appendix to this book (see previous footnote). 60
Page 1 and 2:
Risk Laurence Gray
Page 3 and 4:
Copyright © 2003 by World Vision I
Page 5 and 6:
contents Useful approaches to build
Page 7 and 8:
executive summary responsibility of
Page 9 and 10: executive summary The Philippines I
Page 11 and 12: introduction “How is it possible
Page 13 and 14: introduction Child as a normative f
Page 15 and 16: introduction • offer opportunity
Page 17 and 18: introduction information may emerge
Page 19 and 20: introduction Current challenges of
Page 21 and 22: introduction Planning long-term for
Page 23 and 24: introduction Because we are abandon
Page 25 and 26: Cambodia or a medical emergency. Ho
Page 27 and 28: Cambodia This drawing by a child sc
Page 29 and 30: Cambodia near the garbage dump have
Page 31 and 32: Cambodia The Mith Samlanh/Friends v
Page 33 and 34: Cambodia Mith Samlanh/Friends vocat
Page 35 and 36: Cambodia To further understand how
Page 37 and 38: Cambodia Responses were gained thro
Page 39 and 40: Cambodia LICADHO uses a variety of
Page 41 and 42: Cambodia Families are taught to dis
Page 43 and 44: Cambodia The Law Enforcement Agains
Page 45 and 46: Cambodia 3. The project was based o
Page 47 and 48: Indonesia • The BPS also estimate
Page 49 and 50: Indonesia For Children’s Day in J
Page 51 and 52: Indonesia Useful approaches to buil
Page 53 and 54: Indonesia Child protection concerns
Page 55 and 56: Indonesia Children in the IDP camp,
Page 57 and 58: Indonesia building strategies can b
Page 59: The Philippines • children who ar
Page 63 and 64: The Philippines increase opportunit
Page 65 and 66: The Philippines Barriers to child p
Page 67 and 68: Sri Lanka Children affected by conf
Page 69 and 70: Sri Lanka Partnership for education
Page 71 and 72: Sri Lanka Children’s play showing
Page 73 and 74: Sri Lanka Impact of the project Som
Page 75 and 76: Sri Lanka “I spoke to a group of
Page 77 and 78: Vietnam Background Community-based
Page 79 and 80: Vietnam • At the community level,
Page 81 and 82: Vietnam “States Parties recognise
Page 83 and 84: Vietnam “Talk is cheap. Action is
Page 85 and 86: conclusion Agencies within civil so
Page 87 and 88: ecommendations universities. Advoca
Page 89 and 90: ecommendations • Emerging issues,
Page 91 and 92: acknowledgements Many individuals a
Page 93 and 94: ibliography Amnesty International,
Page 95 and 96: appendix 1 Online toolkit The follo
Page 97: appendix 3 Some principles of World
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