BUDGET 2022 and the National Recovery Plan (NRP) must take into consideration the best interest of our children and work towards a better future for them, said Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM).
“The plan must address children’s survival and development; premised on non-discrimination and respecting their views too.
“Therefore, we must apply the same principles consistently and integrate them into all policies, programmes, legislation as well as judicial decisions affecting a child,” said its children’s commissioner Professor Datuk Noor Aziah Mohd Awal, in a statement in conjunction with the World Children’s Day today.
She added that COVID-19 has greatly impacted children’s lives as the data by the Health Ministry on Oct 12 showed that a total of 410,762 children aged below 17 contracted the coronavirus this year, which is a sharp increase from the 12,620 infected last year.
During this difficult time, Aziah added, the nation also witnessed other challenges faced by children including the loss of learning, rise in child abuse cases, mental health issues, orphaned children and their families getting pushed into poverty.
“Hence, we laud the Government’s move to allocate the highest ever allocation of RM52.6 bil for education in 2022 and a total of RM25 mil through Malaysian Family Foundation, to help children who were made orphans by COVID-19.
“This demonstrates that the Government is serious in addressing future welfare and academic development of our children,” she stated.
Aziah remarked: “In strategising the utilisation of these allocations, we advise the Government to develop a comprehensive post pandemic plan to overcome the ramifications of the pandemic, to benefit all children in Malaysia, regardless of their status.” – Nov 20, 2021
