Phnom Penh: The Cambodian National Council for Children, in collaboration with Plan International Cambodia, as well as APLE, Child Fund, and the Child Protection Unit, has launched the Implementation Plan for National Policy on Child Protection System 2019-2029. This follows Prime Minister Hun Sen, the Honorary President of the Cambodian National Council for Children, signing the National Policy on Child Protection System on 29 May last year.
Minister of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation and Chairman of the Cambodian National Council for Children, Vong Sauth, says despite the attention of the Royal Government, which has established various mechanisms to manage and provide services to children and child victims, there are still some children living in difficult situations who need support and intervention.
Sauth says, “We have to strengthen the mechanism for implementing child protection systems and build human and financial capacity for the implementation of action plans to effectively prevent and respond to violence against children in line with the current situation. On the other hand, interventions for our child victims are currently isolated, with no clear framework and management system in place. Therefore, this national policy on a child protection system is very important in helping to solve children's problems in a systematic way.”
Minister of National Assembly-Senate Relations and Inspection, Men Sam An, says promoting children's rights and protecting children is work that must be done together, in a multi-sectoral, interconnected way. She says Cambodia is a country that is moving forward to participate in this work actively, aiming to improve the protection of children for the benefit of all.
Country Director of Plan International Cambodia, Gwynneth Wong, stresses this plan on the implementation of the National Policy on Child Protection System is another great milestone to further promote the best interests of the children of Cambodia. She says, “This a concrete commitment of the Royal Government of Cambodia on strengthening the systematic child protection practices in Cambodia. This systematic approach on child protection practices requires each and every one of us to work together and ensure children’s interest and their voices, especially the girls’, is at the heart of our work. Last July, I recall being a part of Cambodia’s official launch of the first most important child policy of national protection system for the Royal Government of Cambodia. It lays out a clear path for the Royal Government to implement and respond to child protection issues in the country. Every child and adolescent have the right to life free of violence and the right to grow up in a safe, peaceful, nurturing and enabling environment where they can fully exercise their rights.”
Findings from Cambodia’s Violence Against Children Survey by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs in 2014 show that about six in 10 people across all ages experienced at least one form of violence during childhood. Nearly one quarter of respondents aged 13 to 17 reported having experienced more than one form of violence; 20% of females and 25% of males reported emotional abuse by a parent or other adult prior to the age of 18.
