KUALA LUMPUR -- The proposed Children's Commission to safeguard the rights of minors would be effective only if such an organisation is given `teeth' to shape enforcement and policy decisions.
A statement today by a group of child rights advocates and civil service organisations on the Children's Commission Bill stressed that the independent body should report directly to Parliament. The move enables it to cut through bureaucratic red tape for swift and effective action to implement the law.
"It (must be) fully responsible for multi-ministerial cooperation,'' they said. It must not just be limited to coordination without enforcement capacity."
This direct mandate invests the commission with the authority to advocate policy changes by enforcement agencies and local authorities, and make remedies within a timeline.
"The government needs to ensure Malaysia’s full implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (based on equal rights for all)," they said.
"This would be the single most important legal commitment that any government has made for the protection of children in our nation since Merdeka."
The group pointed out that action to enhance minor rights in critical areas is not only broad-ranging but also complex.
"There is an urgent need to address a scope of issues, including child poverty in urban and remote areas, health services for the disabled, juvenile crime, child marriage and stateless children.
"The protection of children is a shared government-private sector-community-family responsibility," they added.
The signatories include Dr Amar-Singh HSS who is a consultant paediatrician, child-disability rights activist and an adviser to the National Early Childhood Intervention Council (NECIC).
The other signatories are Yuenwah San, co-founder/member, The OKU Rights Matter Project; PH Wong, Childline Foundation; Dr Hartini Zainudin, Yayasan Chow Kit, Voice of the Children; Srividhya Ganapathy, co-chairman, CRIB Foundation (Child Rights Innovation and Betterment); Sharmila Sekaran, Voice of the Children; Amy Bala, Malaysian Association of Social Workers; Melissa Akhir, Kemban Kolektif; Wong Hui Min, president, National Early Childhood Intervention Council, Malaysia; Meera Samanther, disability-gender activist, parent advocate; Anit Kaur Randhawa, member, Harapan OKU Law Reform Group; and Ajeet Kaur, co-chairman CRIB Foundation. -- The Vibes, September 1, 2023
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