HAPPY CHILDREN FREE FROM VIOLENCE AND MALNUTRITION by Fardah

Jakarta, July 27, 2017 (Antara)- A family is a place where children can find love, security, safe shelter, and nutritious food. The family is the beginning of the formation of individual maturity and the personality structure of a child.

         To highlight the important roles of family in child rearing, the Indonesian Government had chosen "Protection of Children Begin from Family" as the theme, and "I am Indonesian Children, I am Happy," as the main message of the commemoration of National Children's Day 2017.

         The function taking place in Pekanbaru, Riau, on July 23, was led by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), who was accompanied by First Lady Iriana.

          Some 3,000 children from every province in Indonesia participated in the event, where President Jokowi performed several magic tricks to entertain them.

         In his remarks, the Head of State reminded children to avoid and prevent bullying among them.
    "I have a message for you. Like in the play just now you must not bully your friends. Do you agree? You must not insult or make fun of your friends," he said, adding that they must respect and help each other.

         "If one of your friends is ill you must visit him/her and do not forget bringing her/him food so that he/she will get well soon," he told children attending the event.      
     Social Affairs Minister Khofifah Indar Parawansa in her remarks she reminded parents to provide education, health needs, love, protection as best as they can to their children.

         She urged parents and teachers to not hurt children, but to make them happy.

         On the occasion, Minister of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Yohana Yambise said number of cases of violence on children especially in Riau province was still very high.

         "Riau is ranked second with regard to the number of cases of household violence, child marriage and also child trafficking in Batam including Tanjung Pinang," she said.

          Ahead of the National Children's Day Commemoration, some 525 children from across Indonesia attended the 2017 National Child Forum being held in Pekanbaru, on July 19-22.

            During the forum, the children discussed about conditions in their regions and schools and play creative games.
  The forum was organized by the Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry as part of a series of activities to celebrate National Children's Day that falls on July 23.

         As results of the Forum, the children issued ten demands and submitted them to President Jokowi.

        "First, we, children of Indonesia, demand to improve access to birth certificate services especially in remote areas," a representative of the Forum read out the demands.

         The second demand is to increase the role of the National Child Forum (FAN) in development process. The third demand is to involve community's figures in the implementation of marriage after reaching adulthood. The fourth is to support child friendly rearing and the fifth is to enhance control on narcotic distribution and protect children from cigarette advertisement.

          The sixth demand is to improve children health facility and save children from poor nutrition. The seventh is to increase education quality by implementing five days of school and admission zoning system. The eighth is to increase the use of healthy Internet based on the spirit of children literacy.

        The ninth is to improve learning for disaster safety for children residing in disaster-prone areas.The last is to protect children from any kinds of exploitation and sexual abuse.

         The number of children in Indonesia reaches some 80 million, or one-third of the country's population, according to Lenny Rosalin, deputy in charge of child rearing issues in the Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry.

         Children are those who are below 18 years of age or students up to the senior high school level.

         Indonesia observes National Children's Day on July 23 every year to remind all elements in the community that children are the most valuable assets that have to be protected jointly.

        Besides this, children are the younger generation that will determine the future of the nation.

        Last year's theme for Children's Day was "Stop Violence Against Children," as assaults and violence, particularly sexual ones, against children were quite rampant in the
   The National Children's Day  has been commemorated since 1986, based on Presidential Decree No. 44 in 1984.

         Meanwhile, according to data of the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS), as of March 2016, the number of Indonesians living under the poverty line had reached 28.01 million, and 11.26 million, or 40.22 percent of the total, were children.

          Based on the National Economic Social Survey conducted in March 2016, however, the percentage of underprivileged children in Indonesia was recorded at 13.31 percent. Nearly half of them, or 47.39 percent, live on Java Island.
  The highest child poverty rate is in the provinces of Papua, West Papua, and East Nusa Tenggara, at 35.57 percent, 31.03 percent, and 26.42 percent, respectively.

         The lowest rate is in Bali, Jakarta, and South Kalimantan, at 5.39 percent, 5.55 percent, and 5.06 percent, respectively.

          "We need to further study the problem of child poverty, as children are an important and national asset for the future," Suhariyanto, head of the BPS.