Children's Day today: Call to advance wellbeing of kids

KOTA KINABALU: World Vision Malaysia Chief Executive Officer Liew Tong Ngan said the Children's Day celebration on Oct 25 was an opportunity to again remember the crucial role of children in the future of the nation."A day of commemoration always provides an opportunity for us to remember the true meaning of an important occasion.

"In the last decade, Malaysia has made significant progress in the development of the well-being of children.

"Our government's commitment in the advancement of child health services and availability of immunisation in urban and rural areas have been contributing factors to the decline in child mortality, in addition to improvement in other key infrastructure development such as water and sanitation."

He said the under-5 years old mortality rate is an important indicator of the well-being of children in a country.

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"In The State of the World's Children 2014 report from United Nations, Malaysia is ranked at 141 of 194 countries and geographies. The ranking is in descending order of the under-five mortality rate.

"Malaysia's ranking is better than some Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. In addition, Malaysia's under-5 mortality rate has improved from 17 per cent in 1990 to nine per cent in 2012, and the infant (under-1) mortality rate has improved from 14 per cent in 1990 to seven per cent in 2012.

"While we have seen marked improvement in the well-being of children in Malaysia, we need to continue the good efforts and strive to further improve the well-being of each child in every part of the country, especially in the rural areas.

"Children's well-being is dependent on their relationships with others and the social, political, physical and environmental contexts that they live in. Different relationships, institutions, systems and structures create an enabling environment where children can thrive, from the closest (micro level, such as families) to the farthest (macro level, such as political or cultural).

"There are four key levels in working towards a holistic and sustainable well-being of a child which we should include in all our development initiatives.

Firstly, empowering children with good health and the basic abilities and skills they need to be productive, contributing citizens throughout their lives, including literacy, numeracy, life skills, and vocational cum entrepreneurial training;

Households/families where improving households' resilience, livelihood and caregiving capacities, including issues of resource allocation to ensure that increased income leads to improved child well-being for both boys and girls;

Also communities where strengthening the resilience and capacity of communities to respond to present and future challenges to child well-being; and

Enabling the environment to ensure that systems, structures, policies and practices support and protect the well-being of children.

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"As we celebrate Children's Day this year, let us remember our responsibilities as Malaysians and global citizens to sustain the well-being of children within families and communities, especially the most vulnerable.

"Let us also remember the rights of the children to health and education, to grow without fear, and play freely in their respective environment."

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