Written Law for Child Protection in Bengkayang

Cases related to child protection are common in Sugai Betung District, Bengkayang Regency. The absence of written laws makes child protection minimal in this area. Seeing this, the relevant government collaborated with Wahana Visi Indonesia (WVI) Bengkayang Program Area in disseminating Village Regulations (Perdes) related to child protection on June 29, 2022. This activity was carried out by the initiative of the government of Cipta Karya Village.

"So that there is a written law in our village that can regulate the behavior of our residents so that it is more orderly and we will formulate it in the Perdes. Thank you to WVI for helping our village. We realize that we cannot move on our own, we also need support from parties outside the village government,” said Head of Cipta Karya Village, Benjamin Kalpin.

Sungai Betung Sub-district Head, Susanti, at the event said that this was not the first time the Village Regulation on Child Protection was made in villages in Sungai Betung District. Previously, two villages also had written regulations regarding child protection. This socialization activity is the initial process flow of the plan for Child-Friendly are of the Sungai Betung sub-district.

“The sub-district supports the socialization of the Village Regulation on Child Protection because it is our right to protect children. There are already two villages that have legal products regarding child protection, namely Suka Maju Village and Suka Bangun Village, so today there are three villages. This means there is only one more village (in Sungai Betung District). Hopefully, in the future we can also make this legal product,” said Susanti. 

Head of BPD Kristianus Kaut added, that the Village Regulation was made not only to produce legal products but also to participate in implementing these legal products. This legal product is expected to reduce and even eliminate cases of violence against children and women.

Not only WVI and the government, but this activity was also attended by various representatives of the Children's Forum, PATBM members, village midwives, teachers, posyandu cadres, religious leaders, traditional leaders, youth leaders, PKK, and members of the Cipta Karya Village BPD.

Written by: Yoel Setiawan, Child Protection Specialist in West Kalimantan and Putri ianne Barus, Communications Officer, Wahana Visi Indonesia