Yayasan Chow Kit leads discourse on child protection online
December 1, 2023
(From left) Aura Balqis - student receiving a certificate from Dato’ Sri Hajah Nancy Shukri - Minister for Women, Children and Community Development while Dato' Seri Dr Wan Azizah and Dato’ Dr Hartini Zainudin - Co-founder of Yayasan Chow Kit look on.
In a resolute push to safeguard the nation's children from the perils of the digital age, Yayasan Chow Kit orchestrated an unprecedented town hall in collaboration with key partners. The groundbreaking assembly, graced by the esteemed presence of Dato' Seri Dr Wan Azizah and Dato' Sri Hajah Nancy Shukri, Minister for Women, Children and Community Development, aimed to galvanize robust support for stringent legislation concerning online child protection.
Held at HELP University, the town hall brought together influential stakeholders, including government representatives, over 100 NGOs, and domain experts. Their collective efforts fostered a comprehensive discourse on the profound implications of the digital world on children, highlighting the urgent need for proactive measures to ensure their safety. Driving policy change and advocacy Yayasan Chow Kit, a vanguard in corporate social responsibility and a government-endorsed entity, has assumed a pivotal role in raising public awareness about the alarming lack of protection for children in today's digital landscape. Their relentless pursuit seeks to drive policy change and advocacy, addressing critical issues surrounding children's safety and collaborating to shield them from violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation. A memorandum presented by 45 civil society organizations for children underscored key recommendations aimed at significantly enhancing child protection services in Malaysia. The memorandum emphasized the necessity of robust collaborations between relevant government ministries, agencies and civil society organizations to rapidly elevate child protection services. A proposal was made to establish an accountable, multi-stakeholder coordination mechanism encompassing all children in Malaysia, irrespective of their backgrounds. One of the pivotal initiatives supported by the civil society organizations involves amending the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) Act 1999 (Act 597) to formalize the role of the Children's Commissioner. This step is hailed as crucial in empowering children and amplifying their participation in matters concerning their rights. Independent Children's Commission Moreover, a call for the eventual establishment of an independent Children's Commission was highlighted, underscoring the need for a dedicated, competent team and a meaningful annual budget to support its functions effectively. The memorandum stressed the necessity of allocating more resources to bolster child protection services, advocating for improved social work quality through the passing of the Social Work Profession Bill and the implementation of an efficient online case management system. It emphasized the urgency of enhancing police staffing to address child abuse issues and allocating budgets for prevention programs, especially to curb online abuse of children. The collaborative effort between government ministries, agencies, and ministers was acknowledged and praised for their strides in improving child protection policies and services in the country. The town hall's impact reverberated through the extensive list of supporting civil society organizations, a testament to the collective determination to fortify measures protecting children. The event not only set the stage for critical discussions but also marked a pivotal step forward in uniting stakeholders toward the shared goal of safeguarding the nation's most vulnerable members in the digital era. |
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