More policy development is needed for child welfare in Malaysia – Stratsea

Introduction

The recent child exploitation scandal involving local conglomerate Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings (GISBH) has brought the issue of children’s rights and protection in Malaysia to the forefront.

It is often thought that children are passive “social actors”, but this does not mean that they do not have rights.

In Malaysia, children’s rights are safeguarded and safeguarded within the framework outlined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which covers four key aspects: child protection, child development, child participation and child survival.

This means that children’s access to food, housing, education and health care are among the most important indicators for measuring children’s rights. A child is considered to be deprived of his rights if these basic needs are not met.

In Malaysia, the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989 led to many positive policy developments for the realization of children’s rights. Within this framework, children’s rights to grow, develop and enjoy the opportunities that life offers are safeguarded and protected through many significantly impactful legislative measures.

These include the Children Act 2001, the Sexual Offenses Against Children Act 2017 and the Anti-Trafficking and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007.

However, this recent scandal has sparked public outrage and questioned the feasibility of these legal measures in promoting children’s constitutional rights.

It should serve as a wake-up call for various parties and stakeholders on how easily children can become targets of exploitation.

Child labor and poverty in Malaysia

The GISBH scandal shows the harsh reality of child abuse through sexual exploitation and forced labor. Such experiences of abuse pose potential harm to their health and survival.

Marginalized children in particular are more vulnerable to these tragic situations. In this regard, more attention needs to be paid to the underlying social conditions that contribute to child rights violations in Malaysia.

Malaysia has a specific provision in the Children and Young Person Act (Employment) 1966, which sets 15 years as the minimum age for employment. This corresponds to the framework outlined by the International Labor Organization (ILO) regarding child labor.

These restrictions protect more than nine million children in Malaysia. However, current regulations still fail to protect children from exploitation. According to the 2018 Employment Survey, 33,600 children were involved in child labor nationwide, with Sabah and Sarawak having the highest rates.

Tackling child labor is challenging due to the complexity of the policy issues and this is compounded by the lack of up-to-date data which slows down the progress of policy making. As a result, not only have children paid a heavy price for our short-sighted policies, but the country itself would also lose a potential source of future growth.

The link between poverty and child exploitation is strong, but recent cases show that this may be partly due to an interplay of several factors, including religion, which nevertheless place children in disadvantaged situations.

Most often, children are forced to work, abused or neglected due to poor parental behavior. Their circumstances are further exacerbated by families’ ongoing financial challenges, including unemployment, job loss and persistent poverty. These causal factors would hinder the normal development of children.

Recent cases of child exploitation revealed a factor in which the differing religious beliefs of the parents were the main cause. Whatever the reason, their inability to provide adequate care and support has further hampered children’s well-being and development. As a result, children are forced to work at a young age and have limited access to basic needs.

Moreover, a complex web of circumstances, including the Covid-19 pandemic, a weak institutional framework for children, weak regulation and enforcement by authorities, poor parental characteristics and poverty have increased the persistent risks for children.

Many argue that poverty is the primary cause because children living in low-income households are exposed to various forms of hardship and are at increased risk of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation. The consequences of poverty are even greater for children than for adults.

Increasing socio-economic inequality has ultimately led to their involvement in a variety of risky situations that would further limit their rights.

Children living in low-income households face many ‘disadvantages’ that would have a profound impact on their long-term development and well-being.

They were forced to take on adult responsibilities even though they were unwilling to do so. As a result, their intellectual performance, development and well-being would be hampered, and they would be disadvantaged for generations.

Many studies have also shown that children living in poverty are more likely to become involved in forced labor and juvenile delinquency. They are also physically and emotionally abused, suffer from malnutrition and illiteracy, drop out of school and have poor learning outcomes.

The stark reality of child poverty is deeply worrying and given its dire consequences, there is an urgent need for more effective policies to combat this problem.

In Malaysia, the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development (MWFCD) and its agencies play an important role in advocating for the rights of children.

The MWFCD, through the Welfare Service Department, is the agency responsible for overseeing and providing services related to the protection of children. The MWFCD has always been active and vocal in their role as representatives of children within the social care framework.

Accordingly, the number of children in need under their protection increases from 8,041 persons in 2023 compared to 6,770 in 2022. With this figure in mind, it is worrying how many children have had their rights violated and denied.

It could be argued that poverty has exacerbated pre-existing inequalities, denying children’s right to an adequate standard of living.

To consolidate its efforts, the ministry established the Ministry of Child Development in September 2023 to specifically address issues related to children. Such a policy response from MWFCD indicates the importance of children as potential sources of future growth as children are seen as future national assets.

Policy issues

The GISBH case highlights the shortcomings in policy implementation due to poor enforcement. The lack of a proper monitoring function – made possible by poor policy coordination – is largely attributed to the increasing number of unregistered care homes.

Accordingly, in 2024 there will be 538 unregistered daycare centers. In Malaysia, registration of home care falls under the jurisdiction of various authorities. It was predictable that different rules would be implemented throughout the process.

Lack of uniformity in this area has led to poor monitoring and enforcement by the relevant authorities. Such a barrier could be properly addressed through uniform policies, with MWFCD acting as a coordinating body to ensure that the fundamental conditions for the development, care and protection of children are fully respected.

Addressing children’s rights is a tough challenge due to the interdependence between government policies. The policy complexity justifies strategic intersectoral collaboration, especially in policy implementation.

The interdependence of policies would necessitate collaboration between the MWFCD and other ministries and agencies as it would be impractical for one ministry to handle matters relating to child education, child health and child protection all together.

The relative, subjective and material dimensions of children’s well-being can be effectively addressed through strategic collaboration and unified child-centered policies.

It is strongly recommended to improve policy networks between government agencies through the implementation of standard policy strategies to avoid operating in silos. This would ensure that the various needs of the affected children were met. Such cooperation would allow for the development of more preventive and effective policy measures.

How does child poverty relate to the broader context? Addressing children’s rights through the child poverty framework would lead to a comprehensive policy plan. Malaysia has a remarkable record of poverty reduction strategies, but little attention has been paid to addressing child poverty.

Many successful policies to combat child protection have emerged over the years, but standard policies to combat child poverty have been slow and piecemeal. Because child poverty is the leading cause of many child-related problems, it does not receive much attention.

Household poverty appears to be the main target of poverty reduction programs using an income-oriented approach. Considering the impact of poverty on children, it is necessary to develop specific policies that target children living in poverty.

The complexity of tackling child poverty is recognized due to policy interdependence, yet a number of issues related to child poverty could be addressed more effectively by adopting a whole-of-government approach.

Conclusion

There are significantly different views on the need to develop a specific national action plan to combat child poverty. The GISBH scandal only reinforces the need for such a tool to protect children in Malaysia.

The increased emphasis on intersectoral cooperation and coordination between agencies and institutions dealing with child rights at all levels needs to be strengthened to ensure uniform implementation in minimizing the impact of child poverty.

The lack of policy development in the context of child poverty and other issues related to children needs to be addressed. Centralized policy involvement is particularly important to give every child the best start in life. These early provisions would yield significant potential returns for the country in the long term.