Focus on Child Rights
Children in Southeast Asia are both overly represented in human rights violations and at the forefront of recent progress in generating national and regional human rights commitments. This is particularly pertinent to the context of children of ethnic minorities and young people involved in migration.
Children of all ages (infants, young children, adolescents and youth) from ethnic minorities and those involved in migration are at risk from a host of threats including: not being registered at birth; dying from preventable diseases in infancy; receiving inadequate nutrition; failing to enter or complete school; becoming trafficked; experiencing hazardous working conditions and being targeted by state or civil violence. The roots of these rights abuses are complex and interrelated and are found both at the level of the child (children are more vulnerable than adults), and the social group into which they are born and develop.
Since the UN Special Session for Children in 2002, in which SE Asian political leaders played a significant role, the region has made some progress in creating an enabling legislative and policy framework for children's rights. This includes, the creation of regional (ASEAN) human rights mechanisms that make children a priority; the formation of four national human rights commissions in Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Cambodia; the creation of national legislation enshrining the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (e.g. Thailand's Child Protection Legislation); the launching of sub-regional rights supporting agreements such as the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative against Trafficking (COMMIT); the establishment of national plans of action (NPA's) for children with time bound, measurable goals supporting children's survival, development, protection and participation rights; and the creation of an enabling environment for UN Agencies, government departments and NGO's to collectively address rights gaps through coordinated programs such as the regional birth registration initiative involving UNICEF, Plan International and the governments of Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia.
Despite these commitments and recent progress there is still a gap between the generic rights oriented laws and policies and taking the next step in bringing these mechanisms to the children who need them most – children of ethnic minority/Indigenous peoples and youth involved in migration. Primary amongst these gaps is the need for a systemic rights - based "mapping" of both rights violations and lack of commitment for such vulnerable groups of children, and local "assets" that can be built upon to address these violations.
What SEARCH is Doing
As a member of the SEARCH team, IICRD provides child rights and cultural/strength-based expertise to better supporting children affected by trafficking and migration through community based interventions and the rule of law.
Specific initiatives undertaken include:
- Assisting in the development of a regional child rights strategy for the SEARCH project partners;
- Working with ASEAN to develop a regional women and children's human rights commission;
- Partnering with UNIAP and Kohn Kaen University, Thailand in hosting a regional human rights training for law enforcement officers and NGOs;
- Helping scale up a community based, multidisciplinary professional team approach to supporting child victims of trafficking in Thailand;
- Assisting in a regional mapping of ethnic minority children's rights issues in SE Asia;
- Supporting a series of consultations leading up to the ASEAN Children's Forum in October 2010 so that civil society can advocate with the ASEAN Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Women and Children (ACWC) and to further efforts towards creation of a regional youth network;
- Cooperation with UNICEF in organization and facilitation of the ASEAN Children's Forum in the Philippines in October 2010 to discuss key issues that affect children and youth in Southeast Asia.