2010 SOFCR Brochure

7/30/2019 2010 SOFCR Brochure

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A State of the Filipino Children Report (SOFCR) is a

document prepared annually by the Council for the Welfare

of Children (CWC) to serve as advocacy material for all

sectors that work with and for children.

Every year, the Council agrees on a theme to give emphasis

on emerging issues or issues needing urgent attention

at the time of writing. For 2010, the CWC Board agreed

to anchor the report on Child- Friendly Governance with

special focus on allocation of resources for children.


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Overall Situation of Children in the Philippines

Child Survival

Malnutrition remains a big challenge in both pre-school and elementary school

levels. The practice of exclusive breastfeeding in the Philippines has remained

the same from 2003 to 2008 at about 34 percent. The incidence of underweight

children 0-5 years increased from 24.6 percent in 2003 to 26.2 percent in 2008.

The decrease in the number of malnourished children over the past four decades

is less than one percent annually. At least two percent yearly decrease is needed

to meet the 17.3 percent MDG nutrition target by 2015. In addition, micronutrient

malnutrition still needs to be addressed, although some significant improvements in

iodine nutrition have been noted. Of note is the decline in infant mortality rate from

57 per 1000 live births in 1990 to 40 in 2003 to 34 in 2008. In maternal mortality

rate, the decline has been very slow from 209 per 100,000 live births in 1993 to

162 in 2006 per Family Planning Surveys conducted during those years, indicating

low probability of meeting the MDG target by 2015.

Child Development

In early childhood care and development, participation rate in center-based programs

among 3 to 5 year old children has slowly increased over a 10-year period from 29

percent in 2000 to 39 percent in 2010. In basic education, there is a steady decline

in school enrolment; there is an observable reduction in completion rate; and there

is significant increase in the number of school leavers and out-of-school youth. The


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country is lagging behind in achieving universal primary education. Performance

in terms of elementary education is still quite far from the MDG target. It is also

apparent that elementary cohort survival rate at 73.3 percent for the same year are

still way below the EFA targets for 2015. Gender disparities in the Philippines reveal

that girls are outperforming boys at different levels of education in terms of netenrolment, retention, and achievement rates.

Child Protection

Growing numbers of children are vulnerable to and have become victims of various

forms of abuse, violence, and exploitation. Data from various agency reports and

studies reveal the presence of working children (4.1 million as of 2001); streetchildren (246,000 as of 2002); sexually abused and exploited children, trafficked

children; children in armed conflict; children in drugs; children in conflict with the law;

and children without parental care and at risk of losing parental care.

The situation of children in Mindanao deserves special attention

considering that several regions and provinces in Mindanao are

worse off in terms of child protection indicators especially thoserelated to children in especially difficult circumstances such as

those affected by armed conflict and displacement as a result of

disaster, both natural and man-made.

Due to the continuing conflict, families experience a diminished

capacity to protect and care for their children resulting in

increased deprivation of basic services and lack of opportunitiesfor normal growth and development. One other consequence of

this frequent and continuing emergencies and disasters is the

overstretched capacity of service delivery system in the area.

Child Participation

The Philippines is a pioneer in the promotion of children and young peoplesparticipation as various innovations to institutionalize children and young peoples

participation preceded the CRC. The rich variety of experiences from the country

continues to contribute to the discourse and practice. The establishment of the

Sangguniang Kabataan or the youth councils, the formulation of the National

Framework on Childrens Participation, Child 21 (the Philippine National Strategic


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Framework for Plan Development for Children), and the National Anti-Poverty

Commission Children Basic Sector representation are among the significant efforts

of government to engage young people to participate in the deliberation of matters

concerning them.

The fourth progress report on the MDGs admits that while the MDGs are top

priorities for the government, progress made towards achieving them has been

uneven. It mentions that the country has already surpassed the targets improving

access to sanitation, increasing tuberculosis case detection rate and providing equal

opportunities for girls. It also reports significant progress made in reducing mortality

rate among children aged 5 and below and reversing the incidence of and death rate

associated with malaria, tuberculosis, and other diseases. The report further projectsthat the country is likely to meet the targets on proportion of population below food

threshold (hunger reduction), and access to safe drinking water. There is, however,

need to double or triple efforts towards achieving the following MDG targets: poverty

reduction; reduction in malnutrition rates; meeting dietary energy requirement;

improving elementary participation rate, elementary cohort survival rate, elementary

completion rate; reducing maternal mortality ratio; and increasing access to

reproductive health services, and HIV/AIDS.


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Child Friendly Governance

The National Plan of Action for Children (NPAC) defines child-friendly governance

as Governance that provides the enabling mechanisms for the creation of a true

child-friendly society that is sensitive to the needs of the child, and where all sectors

interact and cooperate to produce holistic, integrated, and sustainable strategies that

promote child rights.

This definition includes as a key element sectoral interaction and cooperation to

produce holistic, integrated, and sustainable strategies that promote child rights.

It likewise implies that the interest of the child is to come first in the agenda of

government at all levels.

This means that in designing development programs and projects of government,

the child is viewed as the convergent point of all services and interventions including

monitoring and evaluation.

Parameters of Child Friendly Governance

1. Child Friendly Resource Allocation

2. Child Friendly Policy Environment

3. Child Friendly Institutional Structures

4. Synchronized Child Friendly Programs & Projects


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CHILD FRIENDLY GOVERNANCE FRAMEWORK

The framework shows that the local government unit (LGU) is the convergent point of

all interventions designed to address childrens rights and issues. It emanates from

the transformation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child from a

legal framework into a well-defined, national, strategic plan (Child 21) that articulates

the vision of the country for its children. This vision is further concretized into clear,

actionable plans within a time frame offive years. Called the National Plan of Action

for Children (NPAC), this five-year plan carries development interventions such as

child friendly policies, institutions and programmes with corresponding resource

allocations.

Budgeting for Childrens Programs & Projects

At the national level, resources for programs and services for children are mostly

lodged in the budget allocation of the agencies in the social services sector, namely:

DepEd, DoH, DSWD, DOLE and its attached agencies including TESDA, HUDCC, CHED,

and CHR. To some extent, DAR too has a heavy social component in its budget, the

National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP), DoJ and the PNP, all have social

programs and projects addressing childrens concerns.

The 2010 budget of Php1.541 trillion passed by Congress reflected an additional

Php25.23 billion budget for health, education, agriculture and environment sectors. It

was believed that this budget should enable Filipinos to contribute to the attainment

of the MDGs by 2015. The Philippine MDG Progress Report of 2010 concluded with


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the recommendation that to reduce financing gaps, multi-stakeholder resource

analysis and planning for MDGs must take place at both national and local levels.

An important issue in closing the financing gap is the need to reduce leakages

in program/project implementation through streamlining of programs and better

targeting by way of reducing the too many, small, uncoordinated and overlappinganti-poverty and social protection programs which do not make impact in reducing

poverty.

At the local level, aside from their share from the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA),

the Local Government Code of 1991 empowered LGUs to generate resources from

and receive transfers directly in cash or indirectly in-kind and in the form of technical

assistance from external sources, both foreign and domestic. Other sources of fundsfor social and child-related programs, projects and activities in the LGUs outside

of their regular budgets are special programs and projects externally funded but

require a certain percentage of cost-sharing or counterpart funding from the LGU

under agreed conditions spelled out in legal instruments such as a Memorandum of

Agreement. The LGUs under the decentralized system of government have the power

to allocate and increase budgetary allocations for social development programs and

projects especially those directly affecting children. The big challenge therefore is tocreate awareness and commitment from LGUs to invest on children for a more lasting

and meaningful legacy.

Percent Share of Social Services Budget for 2008-2010

Source: Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Funding, www.dbm.org


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Good Practices on Child-Friendly Governance Drawn from the Experiences

of Awardees from the Presidential Award for Child-Friendly Cities and

Municipalities

New Lucena, Iloilo (Region VI) Hallof Fame Awardee in the annual

Search for the Most Child Friendly

Municipality among 4th to 6th class

municipalities (2006, 2008 and

2009)* The municipality boasts of

65 percent allocation of its total

LGU budget for programs andprojects benefitting children with an

expenditure rate of 91 percent from

2006 to 2009. It therefore comes

as no surprise that the municipality

has no reported cases of children in conflict with the law, children in labour, sexually

abused children and street children.

San Mateo, Isabela (Region II) National

Awardee for the Most Child Friendly

Municipality among 1st to 3rd class

municipalities.(2008 and 2009)*

Through Municipal Ordinance 2001

411, San Mateo, Isabela successfully

institutionalized the setting-up of herbaland vegetable gardens in every household

as a strategy to protect the environment,

reduce malnutrition and to ensure family

food sufficiency. Its anti-plastic campaign

Walang Plastikan which has likewise

earned the municipality a national recognition is proof of the local governments

intensive efforts to protect the environment for succeeding generations.

Vigan City, Ilocos Sur (Region I) Presidential Award for Child Friendly Component City

(2006, 2008 and 2009)* True to its being a UNESCO heritage site, Vigan City has put

up and is maintaining a museum for children, Buridek, Ilocano word for youngest, to

serve as a venue for children to learn stories of great men and women, family values,

Breastfeeding Support Group of New Lucena, Iloilo

Province during the Synchronized Breastfeeding

Event Held in 2009

Mayor Roberto Agcaoili of San Mateo,

Isabela welcomes the National Awards

Committee Validation Team


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language and culture, and several

other value forming modules

studied outside of the regular

classroom. Total development

of every Vigan child is the citysmantra.

Naga City (Region V) Hall of Fame

Awardee in The Presidential Award

for Most Child Friendly Independent

Chartered City (2006, 2008 and

2009)* The city has pioneeredin a number of initiatives and

reforms in the fields of education

and participatory governance. The

Citys indicator of development is

when all children from Naga go

to school and finish the level of

education they dream to reach.

Olongapo City (Region III)

Presidential Award for Child

Friendly City in Highly Urbanized

Cities (1999 to 2009)* The

City government believes that

the welfare of children is the

true measure of success of any

LGU. As such, it has consistently

maintained its recognition as

the most child-friendly city

among highly urbanized cities

of the country as a result of its

sustainable programs in health,

education, waste management and community-based monitoring system. It has

likewise maintained its recognition as a clean and green city fit for children to play

and grow and develop to their fullest potential.

*There was no national awarding in 2007, only regional recognition.

The Day Care Worker shows the instructional materials

available in the Day Care Centre of Barangay San Jose,

Vigan City

Day Care Center Validation Visit of the National Awards

Committee in Naga City.

Day Care Children in their center in Olongapo City


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Stories of Initiatives and Good Practices on Child-Friendly Governance

from the Non-Government Partners of CWC

Complementing the efforts of government are the programs, projects and

services delivered by child-focused non-government organizations and the private

business sector through their corporate social arms. Included in this 2010 SOFCR

are stories from three non-government partners of the CWC in promoting and

protecting childrens rights. These are the stories of Save the Children, World Vision

Development Foundation and SM Foundation.

From Save the Children in the Philippines,

there is the story of Cyrus from Pasay City on

working with children to stop violence. Cyrus

is an active member of Youth Meets Children

Organization (YMETCO), a group in Pasay

composed of 25 children and young people

with ages ranging from 12 to 20 organized by

Save the Children in 2006. YMETCO focuses

on raising awareness about childrens rightsand issues in their community. YMETCO holds

regular small group discussions, play-acting,

art workshops, and community-wide events to

discuss childrens issues, particularly corporal

punishment. As a consequence, YMETCO is

steadily gaining a reputation as the leading

voice for children in the community. Its youth members not only sit at the BarangayCouncil for the Protection of Children (BCPC) but also at the City level Council. And in

a community where children have nowhere to meet and play, the donation of a room

within the Barangay Hall for YMETCOs meetings and other activities by the Barangay

Council of Barangay 144 of Pasay City, where Cyrus is a leading member, is viewed

as a major achievement by itself.

World Vision Development Foundation pursued in 2010, an Awards Program onChildrens Participation in Citizenship and Governance, a program which aimed

to enhance the right of children to participate in the development process. This

was done through their exercise of citizenship and governance principles in the

communities they live in.

Cyrus John outside his home in Pasay City,

Metro Manila. Photo by Alison- Laporte-

Oshiro.


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Through pilot-testing in nine

(9) Area Development Program

(ADP) areas in the Philippines

for seven months, the Awards

Program gave the childrenan opportunity to integrate

childrens citizenship and

governance concerns into the

ADPs development agenda

and practice at the barangay,

municipal and provincial levels

of government.

SM Foundation on the

other hand, has adopted

Safeguarding our Future:

Creating Child-Friendly

Malls as their corporatesocial responsibility (CSR)

mission. As such, the SM

Supermalls Program on

Youth and Childrens Welfare

is committed to help future

generations reach their

maximum potential. And

realizing that it will take more

than just a city to achieve that goal, SM Foundation together with parents, tenant-

partners, various government institutions and NGOs, has come up with a series of

sustainable programs geared towards values formation of people doing business in

the mall at the same time ensuring the comfort and safety of children entering their

malls.

A group of children participates in United Nations Day

Celebration at SM Malls

World Vision Foundation pilots an Awards Program on

Childrens Participation in Citizenship and Governance in

9 provinces of the country


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Gaps and Challenges

1. Uneven growth and insignificant reduction in poverty, deprivation and inequality

particularly with reference to children

2. High population growth

3. Vulnerability to natural and man-made disasters

4. Inadequate allocation for the social services sector (Budget deficit for social

sector spending)5. Inadequate data collection and information system

6. Fragmentation of health care delivery system, limited coverage of Philhealth

insurers, and out-migration of health professionals are the prevailing issues on

child survival

7. Problem of access to quality basic education in pre-school, primary and

secondary levels

8. Limited institutional capacities for child protection9. Issues of token childrens participation still persist

10. The challenge of peace and development in Mindanao


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Policy and Program Recommendations

To respond to the above gaps and challenges, this 2010 SOFCR reiterates the

recommendations spelled out in the Third and Fourth Country Report presented in

2009 to the UNCRC, The biggest long-term challenge in upholding the best interestsof the child is to create the structural conditions conducive to the promotion,

protection and fulfilment of human rights, most especially childrens rights. This

requires the strong and unrelenting political commitment and government capacity,

as well as active civil society participation to undertake all necessary measures that

will (a) effectively eliminate poverty, (b) reduce disparities in wealth and resources,

(c) wipe out rampant graft and corruption, (d) put an end to armed conflict, and other

forms of organized violence, (e) generate food and job security for families, (f) provideopportunities for education, as well as health, nutrition, and other social services

without discrimination, (g) care for and protect the environment, and (h) bring peace

and stability among families and communities.

Finally, to make all the above happen, it is recognized that the big and urgent

challenge now lies in the political will and capacity of government to mobilize

broad-based actions and allocate the necessary budgetary resources to fulfill its

commitments to the MDGs, the WFFC goals and targets, Child 21 and the National

Plan of Action for Children (NPAC). It is hoped that under the new administration

which have won under a platform of clean and good governance, energies and

resources can now be focused to achieve its development goals and to move

towards achieving social justice and greater concern for the common good in order

to promote, protect, and fulfill the basic human rights of all its citizens, particularly

children, young people, women and other vulnerable groups.


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President Benigno Aquino III receives the Pledge of Commitment

to achieve the MDGs and to promote CRC from DSWD Secretary

Corazon Soliman and Barangay Councilors League of the

Philippines President Julio Jaime at the Advocacy Meeting

organized by CWC at Malacaan Palace on December 13, 2010


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2010 SOFCR Brochure

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