Children need our protection

THE Recent revelations of physical and sexual abuse of children in care homes in Selangor and Negeri Sembilan have shocked the nation.

You can’t imagine the horrors these children have endured, and to think that this may just be the tip of the iceberg.

In such situations it is easy to point fingers – at the parents, the authorities and even at society as a whole. However, this is not the time for the blame game.

Even as investigations are ongoing, the resulting findings should form the basis for meaningful reforms, laying the foundation for comprehensive child protection – physical, psychological and emotional.

Children are born with the same dignity, citizenship and rights as adults. Simply put, children’s rights are the human rights of children.

Every child, regardless of age, race, gender, wealth or place of birth, has rights.

Every boy and girl deserves a childhood free from violence and exploitation – a childhood where they are nurtured and encouraged to live and experience life in all its fullness.

Yet half of the world’s children experience some form of violence every year, including war, child labor, child marriage, human trafficking and the effects of climate change.

What happened in Malaysia is just a glimpse of the violence against children worldwide.

Despite major progress in recent decades, millions of children still live without their fundamental rights.

An estimated 400 million children worldwide live in vulnerable and conflict-affected areas, where children’s rights are often denied and childhoods stolen through abuse, exploitation and slavery.

Violence against children destroys their dignity, their rights, their potential and their future. This is not right and cannot go unchecked.

Poverty, exploitation and violence are not inevitable. Many of the problems children face are a result of exploitative practices and educational disparities in developed and developing communities.

In a protective environment where children’s rights are respected, the world’s most vulnerable children can thrive and reach their highest potential.

We as a nation must be resolute and committed to pursuing these rights so that children can enjoy a full childhood.

We believe that every child deserves a childhood in all its fullness, surrounded by protective families and communities, free from violence and with the opportunity to thrive as other children do.

Together we can create a safer world for children.

Terry Leong

CEO

Worldview Malaysia