First ever Children’s Parallel Session to be held in Manila

The Seventh (7^th)  Cross Regional Meeting on Violence Against Children will be held on June 6-8, 2017 in Manila, Philippines.

The meeting will be attended by representatives of ASEAN sectoral bodies with relevant work on violence against children such as the Senior Officials Meeting on Social Welfare and Development (SOMSWD), the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC), and the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR). Representatives from regional organizations from the Caribbean, Central and Latin America, the Arab States, South Asia, Africa, and the European Union will also be attending the said meeting.

This year’s CRM will be jointly chaired by Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Judy M. Taguiwalo, ASEAN Deputy Secretary General Vongthep Arthakaivalvatee, and UN-SRSG-VAC Madame Marta Pais.

With the theme “Placing Children at the Heart of the Sustainable Development Agenda: Mainstreaming Children’s Protection from Violence”, it aims to eradicate all forms of abuse and violence against children such as bullying, sexual assault, online violence, and many more.

Children’s Parallel Session

In line with this, a Children’s Parallel Session will also take place that will have children from ASEAN Member States and the Republic of Korea act as delegates. This will be the first ever forum where children get the chance to voice out their concerns and share their opinions regarding this matter.

This will be an avenue to magnify the abuses they are experiencing as well as provide solutions to end harmful deeds to children.

Past adopted related documents to this meeting are ASEAN Regional Plan of Action on Elimination of Violence against Children (ASEAN RPA on EVAC) and The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Elimination of Violence Against Children in ASEAN. These documents have the same goal with this meeting, and that to make sure that children are well protected.

As the chair, the Philippines will act as one of the forerunners in eliminating all forms of violence against children. It is envisioned that at the end of this meeting, people will be more aware of the abuses that children are facing of everyday and that more efforts will be given to end all forms of violence against children. (PCOO)