Unicef unveils ‘Situation of Children’ online platform

Unicef unveiled its new “Situation of Children” website, which contains the latest data on Child Rights in the Philippines. 

In an event held at the Marco Polo Hotel in Ortigas, Pasig City, on October 21, the organization demonstrated the platform to various media and, along with Philippine government officials, discussed the website’s objectives.

What does this UNICEF platform contain?

Unicef Philippines Deputy Representative Behzad Noubary emphasized the importance of gathering accurate information on children to protect their rights. 

The organization’s chief of planning, monitoring, evidence, and data, Xavier Foulquier, meanwhile, showed the website in action.

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Opening situationofchildren.org/ph shows an interactive menu that Foulquier calls the “Wheel of Child Rights,” which has six tenets:

1. Survive and Thrive
2. Learn
3. Protection
4. Safe and Sustainable Environment
5. Equitable Life Opportunities
6. Civil and Participation Rights

Clicking on them reveals their subcategories. For example, the “Learn” section includes “Basic Education,” “Early Childhood Education,” and “Learning Skills, Participation, and Engagement.”

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Then, selecting them will reveal more specific information. For example, click “Basic Education” and then choose “School Attendance and Enrolment Trends” to reveal the following data: 

“School attendance is fairly high at all education levels based on the latest national household survey (2019 Functional Literacy, Education, and Mass Media Survey, PSA).”

The Situation of Children website is a collaboration between Unicef and the following government agencies: 

• Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC)
• National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA)
• Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)

It contains “The Longitudinal Cohort Study of Filipino Children” and tracks the lives of 5,000 Filipino children and their households and communities.

The study, which began in 2016 when the children were 10 and will end in 2030 when they turn 24, is a partnership with the Philippine and Australian governments, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and Unicef. 

CWC Executive Director and Undersecretary Angelo Tapales compared the protection of children’s rights to an “investment.” 

“Perhaps we can maximize that investment in our children and make our future brighter.”

Unicef encourages the public to explore the website so that more understand the situation of Filipino children.