Improving Philippines’ human rights condition, one child
at a time - this is Ateneo
Human Rights Center’s (AHRC) Child Rights Desk new groundbreaking
project that focuses on instilling child rights advocates among
children.
Known as Child Rights Teaching and Learning for Kids
or simply ChildTALK, the project primarily aims
to raise child rights advocates among children, ages 12 to 17
years old, from poor communities. AHRC’s Child Rights Desk
or AKAP (Adhikain para sa Karapatang Pambata, together with Unang
Hakbang Foundation, an NGO that offers alternative education to
children on the streets and in urban poor communities, conduct
a series of training sessions that teach youth to understand their
rights, learn how to protect them, and develop skills and teaching
tools for teaching other kids about children’s rights. 100
children are expected to be part of the program than runs until
the end of this year.
AKAP saw the need to introduce and continuously reinforce the
basic rights of Filipino children because of their increasing
vulnerability to numerous abuses. It works to advance and promote
the rights of children and protect them from all forms of discrimination,
neglect, abuse, and exploitation. Through ChildTALK, self-help
mechanisms that will equip children and the members of their community
to immediately and appropriately respond to reports of abuse are
set in place. ChildTALK is a step towards achieving the vision
of a child-caring Philippine society that respects and upholds
the rights and dignity of all children.
“It’s children teaching other children,” said
Atty. Patty Sison-Arroyo, project head of ChildTALK. She added
that the project was able to tap proactive youth volunteers who
are willing to be trained and eventually pass on the knowledge
they acquired to younger kids, in words and concepts understandable
and appropriate to them. Through the trainings and workshops conducted
in the first phase of the project, the youth volunteers have been
equipped with knowledge on child’s rights and teaching skills,
which they effectively utilized to share knowledge to more children.
The pilot group for ChildTALK are kids from Barangay Addition
Hills in Mandaluyong City. They are volunteer readers of the read-aloud/storytelling
sessions conducted weekly by Unang Hakbang Foundation. The volunteers
were able to teach the core categories of child rights-- right
to life, right to develop, right to be protected and right to
participate, in creative and children-friendly ways. At present,
the pioneering batch of youth volunteers or child’s rights
advocates are holding their organizational meetings and planning
sessions and implement their own programs.
Atty. Arroyo optimistically said that through this project, children,
fully aware of their rights, can participate more in nation-building.
It is also a way to cultivate a world that is more conducive for
children to live a secured and purposeful life.
The project was launched on 5 March 2011 at the Ateneo Professional
Schools in Makati City, with activities running for four months
now. Since day one, trainings were conducted to give youth leaders
a comprehensive overview about the rights of a child. The introductory
modules centering on the Philippine Legal System and Rights of a
Child were prepared and executed by Ateneo law students and interns
of AHRC, respectively. The succeeding sessions revolved around more
specific laws and issues such as the Juvenile Justice System and
Child Abuse. Following these are workshops on improving facilitation
and developing teaching tools such as story-telling, role playing
and other teaching-learning methods, to successfully impart lessons
on child’s rights to a younger and bigger group.
The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty (FNF) supports initiatives
that improve human rights in the country. “The commitment
to make Filipinos aware of their rights early in their lives is
a notable initiative that should be replicated. Through projects
like this, there is a brighter prospect of a more vigilant populace
who can stand up for their rights and can also defend others when
their rights are abused,” expressed Jules Maaten, Country
Director of FNF Philippines.
