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REFLECTION

The Faces of the Future

Lost lives, lost hopes, and lost opportunity

“There is no more task important than building a world in which all of our children can grow up to realize their full potential in health, peace, and dignity.” Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations

11/21/2003

Everyday children across the world are being harmed, tortured, and harassed. And the governments and societies are failing in their duty to protect the rights to those least able to protect themselves. In Indonesia, from the jungle in Aceh, slums in Jakarta and to the high mountains in Irian Jaya, thousands of children lost its lives, hopes and opportunities.

In the long standing conflicts areas such as Aceh, or Irian Jaya children has been recruited to join the rebel forces and being dragged along to live and participated in the on going wars. Just few weeks after the military operation in Aceh a rape case committed by an Indonesian soldier to a minor was reported, those were one of many unexposed reality of chilled abuses in our nation. The burning of the schools by the Acehness Liberation Force also showed us how our society and people had still little or lack of concern about children rights, and children welfare. In Aceh and other conflicts area in our nation, rape cases, against minor were badly reported. Limited access to the media for the victims and bad media coverage made the cases invisible.

In the nation’s capital many children lost hopes and opportunity as they grew up in urban slumps. The education budget and other social budgets that would ensure the welfare of the children had been cut. Just a week ago, the Jakarta Post reported that the Jakarta City Public Works Agency bulldozed many of the schools provided by non governmental organizations that were located under the toll roads and highways in the city without providing a clear program of reallocation and alternative solution. These schools were founded to give poor children an education that they would otherwise have been denied. Their parents cannot afford to pay state-school fees, not to mention the purchase of books and stationery.

In the same time the political ‘elites’ are more worried about the next election and preparing all the meaning and strategies by spending millions of dollars to feed the political parties for the struggle of power . The high echelons of the government and the legislative members are more worried of how to maintain their position than how to dedicate their position for the people. The issue of development without mentioning the increased of child labour is not something unusual in Indonesia and the government never take an effective remedy to prevent those practices. In the name of development we are indeed canibalising the future faces of this nation. The long term effect of the perpetuation of child exploitation and abuses would create the national culture of violence.

The protection of children is crucial to the survival of the nation. The government, as well as non governmental institutions, and the society is responsible and must be held accountable in putting the rights and well-being of children above all other concerns. And those that fail to do so must also be held accountable. Ensuring the rights and well-being of children is the key to sustained development in a country and to peace and security in the world. Building a better future for the children will give the country new different faces of the future that would enhance and promote a new and better Indonesia.
 

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