Arya Dipa, Bandung – Indonesian children voiced their health concerns by urging the government to increase cigarette prices and intensify anti-tobacco and anti-alcohol campaigns.
The demand was conveyed during a congress in Bandung on Saturday in commemoration of the National Children's Day.
On behalf of 300 participants, Rizky Aulia from Jambi and Kurdiyan from Lampung read seven recommendations from the four-day congress. "We wanted the regional administrations to establish no-cigarette zones in public places," they said.
The children also demanded the government guarantee free health coverage for children nationwide and improve facilities for all schools "regardless the status of the schools, either public or private".
The children also called for improvement of information and technology facilities, especially in isolated areas across Indonesia. "We want the government to protect children from exploitation and violence," they said.
The children hoped that the government would establish a national communication forum so they could stay in touch with their peers from various regions.
The declaration had been scheduled to be read before President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono during the national celebration in Ancol, North Jakarta. However, the planned reading was dropped due to the President's schedule.
The national commemoration itself was finally officiated by Vice President Boediono while Yudhoyono attended his Democratic Party national coordinating meeting in Sentul, south of Jakarta. The schedule change resulted in the boycott of the celebration by the National Commission for Child Protection.
"The declaration had been made by the children during the congress and it would have taken only five minutes to read it," said commission chairman Arist Merdeka Sirait when describing the reasoning behind the boycott.
The declaration was also scrapped last year only minutes before the designated time. Commission advisory council head Seto Mulyadi said at the time that the dismissal was due to the children's critical opinions regarding smoking restrictions.
During the celebration in Ancol, Boediono pointed out that Indonesia had not been successful in lowering the infant-mortality rate. "The government should improve health services," he said, as quoted by Antara news agency.
This year's commemoration was also aimed at raising awareness of children's rights and the importance of "holistic integrated" child development to ensure children's welfare and protection.
The government has been criticized by several organizations, including UNICEF. UNICEF said that there are no cities in Indonesia that have complied with its "child friendly city" criteria, adding that the closest to compliance was Surakarta, Central Java.
Among other conditions dictating fulfillment of child rights include services that support child growth, supporting child participation in the family, community and society.
The Australian Embassy in Jakarta also commemorated the day, addressing the juvenile justice system as one of the main challenges. In hopes of improving the system, the embassy has funded six organizations focusing on child rights.
Under Indonesia's prevailing system of law, child offenders are often tried as adults. "As is the case anywhere in the world, child offenders should not be treated the same as adult criminals. The system needs to protect their well-being," Australia's deputy Indonesia mission chief Paul Robilliard said.
The embassy has funded the Indonesian Legal Resource Center, the Jakarta Legal Institute, the Indonesian Legal Institute, the Children's Legal Aid Institute in Aceh and the Child Protection Agency in East Java to help ease problems faced by child offenders. (lfr)