Mrs S R Nathan Patron to the 6th Asian Regional ISPCAN Conference

Mr Kishore Mahbubani, Dean, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy

Professor Kim Oates Chief Executive, Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Australia

Ms Kimberly Svevo Executive Director, ISPCAN (USA)

Mr Koh Choon Hui Chairman, Singapore Children’s Society

Ladies and Gentlemen

I would like to wish all of you a warm welcome, especially those of you who are visitors to Singapore.

Asia has made Great Strides to improve Children’s Lives

2 Asia has made great strides to improve children’s lives this past decade. The latest “State of the World’s Children” report by UNICEF indicates that most Asian countries have significantly reduced their infant mortality rate for children under 5 years old since 1990. Life expectancy has also increased vastly in this region. Countries such as Bangladesh and Indonesia, for example, can expect their children born in 2003 to live up to more than 15 years longer than those born in 1970. Sanitation facilities have improved and more children are now receiving basic education. Early this year, the leaders of 26 East Asia and Pacific countries met at Siem Reap, Cambodia, for the 7th Ministerial Consultation on Children. The meeting re-affirmed the commitment to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and set goals to reduce poverty, as well as promoting child survival and growth.

New Regional Mechanisms to protect Children

3 Last December, the Indian Ocean Tsunami disaster left thousands of children as orphans and vulnerable to abuse and disease. While other Asian countries responded quickly following the disaster, there is still more that can be done to help these children affected by the tsunami in the long-term. As a region vulnerable to natural disasters, we need to strengthen our collaborative efforts on early warning systems and be committed to help the children rebuild their lives when disaster strikes. Indeed, I am heartened to know that this conference will be addressing some of the challenges in protecting children in disaster situations.

4 Asia’s economic progress and tourism industry have raised the national incomes of many countries. The impact of this progress on our children is significant. But there are also new challenges that we face. Child exploitation is one of them. Recently, the ASEAN nations reviewed their positions on tourism to put children’s interests as a top priority. The 10 ASEAN countries are now working on the ASEAN Traveller’s Code to promote responsible tourism, including preventing the abuse and exploitation of people.

5 Modernisation and advances in technology have also brought up another challenge. The children of today grow up with a strong attachment to the Internet, computers and mobile phones. Technology has opened doors for our children to learn and stay connected. But it can also make our children more alienated from real life. It is therefore, important not to let technology and gadgets overtake the value of family relations. We must strengthen family values and ensure that our children do not become disengaged from society.

Families are the Building Blocks of Society

6 The best way to nurture our children is to help build strong and stable families. Children who grow up in a happy family, with positive values and role models, will become resilient and responsible adults. Children need to experience love and care from adults who are concerned about their growth and development. We don’t have to be rich to provide a happy home but we do have to be rich in love and patience.

7 In Singapore, we have a number of committees that provide advice on policies and programmes for families. The government also promotes family-friendly work life practices among employers. Families can rely on a special website called, “Family and Community Development @ eCitizen”, the gateway for government services. The website provides information and electronic services on almost every family matter from birth to old age. Separately, social work and family education programmes are available in our schools. There are also 36 Family Service Centres in all parts of Singapore where parents can drop in to seek help on anything to do with children.

8 Last year, my Ministry conducted a survey on the well-being of children and the quality of parent-child relationships in Singapore. Almost all of the 2,300 plus children surveyed, who were between 10 and 14 years of age, felt that their parents showed them love and concern. On average, 8 out of 10 children agreed that their communication with parents was open and meaningful. This augurs well for parent-child relationships here.

Children are our Future

9 This year marks the 10th anniversary of Singapore’s ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). This convention is one of the most supported conventions amongst all the countries in the world. To date, 192 countries have ratified the Convention. This underlines the international commitment towards promoting children’s rights.

10 Since we ratified the Convention in 1995, Singapore has achieved several milestones in the promotion of children’s well-being. I must say children in Singapore today have never been more fortunate. We have established good laws and their rights are well protected.

11 For instance, we amended our Employment Act last year to raise the minimum working age for children and young persons from 14 to 15 years. This is in line with a key International Labour Organisation (ILO) convention that restricts the minimum age of children in employment which Singapore has recently ratified in November 2005. We amended the law and ratified the Convention to ensure that our children will not be exploited or be denied of their right to have a fulfilling childhood.

12 This year’s “The State of the World’s Children” report by UNICEF, which surveyed 133 countries, ranked Singapore together with Sweden, as having the lowest infant mortality rate for children under the age of 5. Our children’s life expectancy has also increased. Their quality of life has also improved. And with all the improvements in medicine and technology, I would say that there is hope that we can all live longer and enjoy a better quality of life.

Every Child is Precious

13 Yet, there remain a very small percentage of children who will need protection because they are not safe from harm, either from their own families or from adults who are supposed to care for them.

14 But let me emphasise that the number of children who are abused is small.

15 Over the last 5 years, my Ministry investigated an average of 188 complaints of alleged child abuse each year. Only in 40% of cases did our investigations reveal real evidence of abuse. Granted, the number of cases with evidence of abuse increased by about one and a half times from 61 in 2000 to 90 in 2004. This is due largely to greater awareness among those who have regular contact with children and who reported the incidents to the authorities for intervention.

16 What is significant is that the number of physical abuse cases has gone down between 2003 and 2004. This is a good sign.

17 Our challenge now is to strengthen the avenues of help available for children suffering from emotional and psychological abuse. When we amended the Children and Young Persons Act in 2001, we expanded the definition of abuse to include emotional and psychological abuse. While we know that it is difficult to detect emotional and psychological abuse, there can be far more serious and long-term damage to a child’s healthy development.

18 When it comes to protecting children, we adopt a pro-child approach. We listen to what they say, or rather more tellingly, what they are afraid to say. We want to help children build trusting relationships with adults, and help them heal where they have been hurt. Ultimately, we want to restore their sense of self-worth and confidence, even if it takes time.

19 Child abuse and neglect are problems that every society must tackle. Child abuse and neglect are often treated as private affairs that do not warrant public attention. Families tend to under-report incidents of child abuse because they do not wish to “wash their dirty linen in public.” Neighbours also tend to turn a blind eye to such instances, so as not to “affect good neighbourly ties”.

20 We have to find the right mechanisms that will help us to safeguard the well-being of our children. Evidence from other countries has shown that mandatory reporting can be counter-productive. Over-zealous reporting of child abuse can subject families and children to substantial stress, especially if the alleged abuse turns out to be unsubstantiated. It can result in professionals themselves under-reporting child abuse cases out of fear that it will do more damage to the families and children concerned.

21 What is important, then, is for people who have regular contact with children to be knowledgeable about how to detect and report child abuse. In Singapore, we have strengthened the child abuse reporting system by regularly training professionals at child care centres, kindergartens, schools and polyclinics on the detection and reporting of child abuse.

22 We have also brought our public education efforts to the children themselves. Over the last three years, my Ministry and social service agencies initiated a series of skit performances on family violence for primary and secondary school students. The message is simple – “talk to someone you trust about your problems”. The programme reached out to more than 53,000 students. Social workers followed up with students who indicated that they were experiencing problems in their families. By addressing the issue of violence from a young age, the skits have alerted children and young persons to the need to get help. By taking a proactive and preventive approach, it helps to break the cycle of family violence that so often gets perpetuated if there is no early intervention.

Everyone is Responsible

23 There are many challenges we face when we work with families to protect children from abuse. We must invest in setting up effective referral systems and preventive measures. We must educate families on better parenting methods. And where a child’s family fails to provide a safe and nurturing environment, the community, social service agencies and the government have to step in.

24 My Ministry, as the key agency handling cases of child abuse in Singapore, can only be effective by working together with other agencies. Children can have effective protection when we adopt a multi-disciplinary and inter-agency approach. The police, hospitals, schools and child care centres are all important agencies in our partnership network. This networking arrangement has made us more responsive and more coordinated in helping children get out of harm’s way. It also made us more sensitive to the needs of children.

25 My Ministry has established The National Standards for Protection of Children. We have published this to guide and encourage professionals to adopt good practices in the course of their work. Through this guide, the principle of the Best Interests of the Child is promoted to government and non-government agencies working with and for children. We encourage all sectors of society to turn this principle into practice in their respective areas of work.

26 Today’s conference is an excellent opportunity for those of you who work with children from across the Asian region to come together and share your knowledge and experience in preventing child abuse and neglect. With such firm regional commitment and sharing of expertise, I am confident that we in Asia can continue to build a safe and nurturing environment for our children to live in.

27 I wish you all a fruitful conference. Thank you.