president is seeking to uphold and fulfill the rights of children
Opinion piece by Teresa Carpio Villegas, Director of Save the Children in Peru, Parole ( Source: Ideeleradio )
The children, ranging from zero to 18, representing 40% of the total population and deserve a comprehensive policy attention. The organized children have been repeated, before the public offering of many candidates, they are not the future of the country, they are now! a present and have their voices heard in different places claiming: "All the Children, Vote for Children, Now" * that summarizes a will and a comprehensive agenda for children with targets and indicators to achieve in 2016 in education, nutrition, health, protection from violence and participation of children in matters that concern them.
political will is needed to understand that children, though not vote, they are also citizens and deserve to be included among the main measures to be taken by politicians who will lead the country in next five years. It is essential to understanding that these policies are and should be comprehensive, otherwise we will not have results that really impact the quality of life for this population group.
Studies in the U.S. and Sweden on IQ and school performance in the first case and a nutritional improvement in the second, simply show us the policies towards children must attend all simultaneously. The study in the United States and 32 other countries showed that abused children were between 2.8 and 5 IQ points lower than children who had not been punished physically or psychologically. The impact of the violation of a law has direct effect on other rights. In the case of Sweden, the study showed that children who were given more affection in the period the study, achieved a better nutritional status than other children who received the same diet but without the emotional component.
addition of affection and protection to public services that address the cases of children abused, is also required basic services in homes and schools, and thereby break the vicious cycle of infections and malnutrition. Also, to encourage families to plant, produce and use domestic food with essential nutrients also contribute to ending malnutrition. The creation of consultative councils of children in all the regional governments and ensuring to participate in all sectoral policies that affect them ensure the quality of the decision to be implemented. It is clear that comprehensive and cross-cutting policies benefit the children as well as the whole family.
Candidates have a new opportunity to think seriously about the country and identify with this 40% of the population. Have the opportunity, as we had it and took full advantage of Asian countries with higher levels of development, like Chile, which invested in childhood and today have zero levels of malnutrition and highly competitive and professional services quality for most of the population. Candidates should have a new opportunity but also the voters. At the time of voting, let's look well who actually VOTE for children and if not, your vote, you have the last word, change of candidate.
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