“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Prov. 22:6)
DSWD Field Office Caraga spearheaded the 27th National Children’s Month Celebration in partnership with the Council for the Welfare of Children and the National Youth Commission, on November 5, 2019 at Dottie’s Place, Butuan City. The highlight of the celebration was the recognition of cities/municipalities who were awarded the 2018 Seal of Child-Friendly Local Governance.
It was a day of pride and celebration for Local Government Units, headed by Local Chief Executives, as they received their plaque of recognition and the citation of Seal of Child-friendly Local Governance. Seventy cities and municipalities were present during the said event, three provinces (Province of Dinagat Islands, Agusan del Sur, Agusan del Norte) were given plaque of Exemplary Province for having complete number of municipalities and/or cities that has received the award, and four cities (Tandag City, San Luis Municipality, Cortes Municipality, Butuan City) were also recognized as regional winners.
The gathering was a venue for the different LGUs, NGAs, and partner-stakeholders to show their commitment in promoting the rights and welfare of children.
The Council for the Welfare of Children (which DSWD is a part of) who confers the said recognition, acknowledged the LGU’s commitment to give utmost consideration on the welfare of children in their planning, budgeting, legislation and delivery of services and is able to assure that all children enjoy their rights classified as survival, development, protection and participation.
By virtue of Republic Act no. 10661, the Philippines celebrates National Children’s Month every November. It is a month-long celebration where it recognizes children as the most valuable asset of the nation and to emphasize the importance of their role within the Filipino family and the community.
This year’s national children’s month celebration had four objectives to fully realize the rights of children. These are to promote better quality and improved way of life of the children, promote well-nourished, healthy life for them to be active and have good quality education, ensure the safety of children ensuring that they are free from violence, abuse, neglect, and exploitation type of life, and lastly, to make the voice of the children heard, enabling them to actively participate in decision-making processes affecting their lives according to their evolving capacities.
The theme for this year’s celebration is “Karapatang Pambata: Patuloy na Pahalagahan at Gampanan Tungo sa Magandang Kinabukasan”. With the theme, the DSWD,CWC and NYC aims to conduct different sets of activities to engage with different stakeholders to strengthen the advocacy of upholding the rights of children.
