Hundreds of East Asian Children Call to End Violence During Covid-19
The cases of violence against children were increasingly occurring during the Covid-19 pandemic. According to this fact, more than 100 child participants across East Asia convened with government officials to discuss the increased instances of child violence experienced during COVID-19 at World Vision’s Asia Pacific Child Well-Being Learning Exchange: Let Our Voice be Heard forum yesterday. The virtual event, organized in partnership with UNICEF East Asia and Pacific, was introduced to bring together government, UN agencies, donors, civil society organizations, corporates, academia, subject matter experts, and thought leaders in the development sector, to throw light on pressing issues facing the world’s most vulnerable children and their well-being in the Asia Pacific.
Child leaders highlighted the disconcerting increase in violence towards children, wide gaps in access to essential services, especially child protection and appealed to the Asian leaders to fulfill their commitment to making sure every child has every right, as per the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Loss of income during Covid-19 has forced parents and caregivers to take desperate measures that are negatively impacting children’s well-being, including inflicting violence on their wards. In addition, a higher proportion of girls revealed that they feel more unsafe during lockdowns. This Unmasking Report conducted by World Vision indicated 10% of caregivers were sending their children to work and 9% of the households were sending children to beg or for high-risk jobs.
Ishak (17 yo), a child representative from Indonesia said that many children have been forced to work, as also the violence and exploitation are increased includes physical violence, child labor, and child marriage.
"This is due to many parents losing their livelihood and increased stress at home, due to Covid-19. This must stop because children are the future. We want to feel safe, cared for, and protected. Our voices matter and we need to be heard,” he told.
The children also urged governments, civil society, and the private sector to take urgent action in addressing their concerns and scale-up social protection interventions that are child-sensitive, gender-responsive, and accountable. Social protection measures should provide the most vulnerable families with immediate access to food, cash and voucher assistance, and livelihood opportunities through labor market interventions.
“Children and young people’s rights to meaningful participation is an important cornerstone of any society and is key to human capital development and social inclusion. In times of crisis, we all have to ensure that mitigating efforts do not exclude or diminish the space for young people to have access to correct information and knowledge, express their opinion and offer solutions to tackle the crisis,” said Marcoluigi Corsi, Deputy Regional Director, UNICEF East Asia, and Pacific.
Written by: Amanda Putri, Media Relation Executive Wahana Visi Indonesia
