As the onset of the typhoon season is expected to compound the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, a child rights group urged local government units (LGUs) to prepare for emergency response particularly in communities with limited budgets and weak health systems.
Save the Children Philippines (SCP) Chief Executive Officer Atty. Alberto Muyot said children’s rights to survival, education, and protection from abuse and exploitation are at stake during emergencies such as natural disasters, conflicts, and health crisis.
Muyot, a former Undersecretary of the Department of Education (DepEd), said that it is critical to empower parents, caregivers, and community leaders in providing life-saving support and care to protect a generation of children in these trying times.
“Children face the harsh impact of natural calamities and other emergencies as they highly depend on adults for protection and developmental needs,” Muyot added.
The SCP, through its Alert, Accountable, and Resilient Communities (A2RC) project, provides technical support to the government agencies in improving its risk reduction and response mechanism to build resilience of communities.
The child rights organization also implements a two-year program funded by the European Union (EU) in typhoon-stricken municipalities of Sulat and Dolores to protect deprived and marginalized children, pregnant and lactating mothers from emergencies in partnership with Caritas-Borongan and the provincial government of Eastern Samar.
The SCP has advocated the enactment of Republic Act 10821, or the Children's Emergency Relief and Protection Act that created the Comprehensive Emergency Program for Children (CEPC).
The law mandates LGUs to ensure all children, pregnant and lactating women are protected, and their needs are provided for, before, during, and after disasters and other emergency situations.
SCP also partnered with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) in providing policy support in localizing the CEPC.