Enhancing Child Protection In The Philippines

In conjunction with the Consuelo Foundation—a nonprofit addressing children’s wellbeing—ACCESS Health Philippines organized a Child Protection Research Forum to appraise the current state of child protection in the country. The Forum involved a wide range of participants, including academics, child advocates, health professionals, law enforcers and legal scholars. In October, a final report was published detailing a multifaceted challenge from the Philippine context, including a range of emotional, mental, physical and social considerations.

Especially given the challenges created by Covid-19 today—not being able to physically attend school, parents having challenges making ends meet amid mass unemployment, and living close together for extended time frames—this forum was remarkably salient in a young country where a third of the population is 14 years old or younger.

The report also reflects the exchange of ideas by this diverse group that generated actionable plans for improving the status of child protection in the Philippines. Follow-up actions include the set-up of a research and learning network to encourage further multidisciplinary knowledge-sharing evident during the event, which was patterned on ACCESS Health’s participation in the Joint Learning Network. You can view a recording of the Research Forum here.