PH Public Educators, Stakeholders Reaffirm Commitment to Uphold the Rights of the Child
Over 600 Department of Education officials, personnel, and other education stakeholders pledge to continue upholding the rights of the child. (Photo courtesy of Philippine Department of Education)
MANILA 13 December 2019 — On the occasion of the 30th commemorative year of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Department of Education (DepEd) convened its First National Summit on the Rights of the Child in Education under the theme “Child, Your Rights, My Responsibility” on 14 to 15 November 2019 at the Heritage Hotel Manila.
The summit gathered over 600 DepEd officials, educators, students, parents, and representatives from the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), UN agencies, non-government organizations, and other stakeholders who reaffirmed their commitment to advancing child rights in education. DepEd is the lead agency on ensuring basic education to over 27 million learners across the country.
UNCRC member Mikiko Otani, impressed with the high level of commitment as well as coordination among government agencies on the rights-based approach to education, cited the importance of investing in early childhood education and noted that the Philippines’ K to 12 Basic Education Program ensures access of every Filipino child to early childhood education through universal kindergarten.
Deputy Permanent Representative of the Philippine Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva Ambassador Maria Teresa T. Almojuela reaffirmed the commitment of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to promote and protect the rights of the child. “The Department and its Foreign Service Posts (FSPs) across the world relentlessly pursue this advocacy through consular services, extension of legal and repatriation assistance to distressed Filipino nationals including children regardless of migration status, and response to cases of trafficking in persons, among many others.”
Ambassador Almojuela remarked that the Philippine Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva would continue to advance this advocacy in the Human Rights Council and other human rights mechanisms, citing the Philippines’ active engagement with the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. She shared that the Philippines submitted to the Committee in February this year the national report on the progress of the implementation of state obligations under the convention.
“The Philippines, as a member of the Human Rights Education and Training Platform, worked hard in making youth the focus group of the World Program for Human Rights Education for the period 2020 to 2024. This will give emphasis on the opportunities to provide young people education and training in equality, human rights, non-discrimination, and inclusion and respect for diversity,” Ambassador Almojuela said.
She also referred to the need to ensure the protection of children especially in indigenous communities from abuse and exploitation by armed groups who use pseudo-schools to traffic children for armed combat, sexual abuse, forced labor, and slavery, among others.
The Ambassador shared about the Philippine leadership on child rights in the Southeast Asian region through the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR). She cited the initiative of the Philippines to facilitate dialogues between ASEAN and the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on various aspects of the Convention, and the recent adoption by ASEAN Leaders at the Summit in Bangkok of a declaration committing to boost efforts to keep children safe from online abuse and exploitation amid the digital age.
The Philippine government, a staunch champion of the rights of the child, responded resoundingly to the call for support by the Committee for the 30th commemorative year of the Convention. National and sub-national agencies led various initiatives to reaffirm their commitment to work with children are convened across the nation as well as overseas. END
United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child member Mikiko Otani interacts with children participants of the e-learning course breakout session. (Photo courtesy of Philippine Department of Education)
For more information, visit https://www.genevapm.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/PHinGenevaUN/.