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National Children’s Month: A Call to Action for Children

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Category: Region NCR

November is National Children's Month “New Normal na Walang Iwanan: Karapatan ng Bawat Bata Ating Tutukan!”The Philippines celebrates the National Children’s Month (NCM) every November by virtue of Republic Act No. 10661 to recognize children as the most valuable assets of the nation and to emphasize the importance of their role within the Filipino family and the Philippine society. This declaration commemorates the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the United Nations General Assembly on 20 November 1989, and seeks to instill its significance in the Filipino consciousness.

This year’s National Children’s Month theme, “New Normal na Walang Iwanan: Karapatan ng Bawat Bata Ating Tutukan!” focuses on children’s rights as the country reels from the prolonged consequences of the pandemic.
 According to the United Nations’ Policy Brief on COVID-19 and Children, “there are three main ways children are affected by the crisis and this includes infection with the virus itself, immediate socioeconomic impacts of measures to stop virus transmission and end the pandemic, and the potential longer-term effects of delayed implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.” The disruption brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic to the children’s environments has greatly affected their rights to survive, develop, to be protected and to participate safely and fully from their usual activities pre-pandemic.

Due to the deteriorating quality of diets and the multiple shocks caused by the pandemic and its containment measures, more children are becoming undernourished. Children who are malnourished have compromised immune systems and are at a higher risk of dying from COVID-19. At the same time, these children may have a harder time getting the treatment and care they require to survive and flourish. Efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19 are disrupting the food systems, interrupting health and nutrition services, damaging livelihoods, and threatening food security. The Joining Forces Alliance (JFA), a global coalition of child-focused international non-governmental organization, has urged the Philippine government to take immediate action to prevent an increase in the number of children becoming undernourished as a result of hunger and food insecurity caused by the loss of income and livelihoods among parents and guardians as a result of COVID-19 restrictions.

We need to keep our children healthy and well-nourished so they may be able to adapt and recover from the effects of the COVID-19 and prevent the worsening of the nutrition situation. Despite the challenges brought about by the pandemic, the NNC-NCR urges LGUs, and other stakeholders to work together in implementing and sustaining nutrition-related interventions for children and their families to safeguard their health and nutritional well-being.

The Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC) enjoins all Filipinos to participate in the national and regional online activities through their official CWC Facebook Page /CWCgovph.  The national and local government, schools, and the private sector nationwide are encouraged to recite the “Panatang Makabata” every Mondays of November during the flag raising ceremonies with various translations in native languages/dialects and Filipino sign language, which can be accessed on the CWC’s official Facebook page.

Written by:
Nutrition Officer I Isabela Danielle O. Lucas and
Nutrition Program Coordinator Milagros Elisa V. Federizo

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