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By
: Suy Se, Picture by : Jon Bugge.
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With a day accorded especially
to them internationally, perhaps one day in the
future these children can walk taller than their
shadows.
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June 1st
saw the commemoration of this international holiday.
With so many public holidays, it can become overwhelming
to differentiate between them all, to ascertain
their significance and their role. International
Children's Day is much more than merely another
day off.
Thousands of children from many schools in Phnom
Penh, as well as NGO staff, gathered at Wat Phnom
to hold a ceremony to celebrate International Children's
Day, on June 1, 2002.
Every year nations throughout the world hold ceremonies
on "Children's Day", to commemorate the
1942-1944 tragedy, when more than 300 children were
burnt and killed in France and the ex Czech Republic.
The genocide and torture of women and children under
the Pol Pot regime was worse than the atrocities
committed by the Fascist Hitler in the ex Czech
Republic, Prime Minister Hun Sen said. As a result
of the regime, the demographics of the country changed,
which means now 40% population are technically children.
It seems thus fitting that Cambodia celebrates this
day and remembers the loss of many of its own children.
During the Pol Pot regime, a lot of Cambodian children
were killed and separated from their family or became
orphans, Prime Minister Hun Sen continued. |
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After the liberation
of January 7, 1979, although we were in the most difficult
of political and economic situations, we still struggled
to build orphanages in all provinces, in order to help
them grow up in a safe environment and go to school so
they can build for our future.
Hun Sen called for all related ministries to cite their
own plans, so that they may join in implementing a five
year plan. The plan’s aims are to fight against child
trafficking, sex violations and labor violations against
the children, he said.
"I am very happy today because it is the children's
day. It is the commemorative day to all children who were
killed throughout the world," said a young 11 year
old boy Sea Tina from The Children's Committee Organization.
"Today, children meet a lot of problems such as being
forced to be prostitutes, violation of labor rights and
the spread of AIDS," Sea Tina said. "Children
must have rights. If they don't have these rights, they
can be violated easily." |
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On the actual
day, there were a lot of banners hanging around
Wat Phnom promoting the rights of children. One
such banner read: "We have to keep the children
far away from drugs" and another read: "No
child shall be given up."
In the ceremony there was a concert, dancing, funny
games and a play (Lakhon) entitled "Poverty
Meets Cheating". There were many activities
at Wat Phnom Park played by children.
According to Non Government Committee for Children's
Right, there are three big problems that threaten
the lives and the safety of children. These were
sexual abuse, trafficking and HIV/AIDS. There are
at least 150 cases of rape reported per year, more
than 50 percent of rape cases occur in Kandal, Kampong
Cham and Svay Rieng province. 47 percent of them
are between 11- 15 years old. Between 400-800 women
and children are trafficked abroad to become sex
workers every month. One out of three prostitutes
are children: there are 80,000 children in total
working in prostitution and most victims are between
12 to 17 years old. The statistics for HIV and AIDS
are also shocking. In the year 2000 the number of
children with HIV was 3,000. A year later 2,592
children died of AIDS in that year alone.
Another 7,000 children became orphans because their
parents died from AIDS and in the upcoming 2003;
the number of orphans will increase to a staggering
50,000.
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A lucky child in the protection
of a caring adult.
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It seems that it
is no longer a safe world to be a child and it is for
these reasons that it is important to mark the event of
International Children's Day. It is necessary to look
after our children so they can fulfill their potential.
They are our future and we need to look after them.
"Education is the key to the development of children
and to cutting down poverty," Hun Sen said. "We
have to take care and advise children to respect the customs
and to love the culture of Cambodia." |
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