As the whole nation observes the 31st National Children’s Month (NCM) celebration this November, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has encouraged all sectors to work together to improve the health and nutrition of children.

“We in the Department encourage all stakeholders to work together to improve the health condition of children by creating programs and implementing policies that will ensure their holistic development,” DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian said in a statement.

By virtue of Republic Act No. 10661, the NCM is an annual celebration which commemorates the significance of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on November 20, 1989.

“With the proper guidance of parents and adults, children should also be given the appropriate platform where they can exercise and express their rights as individuals,” Secretary Gatchalian pointed out.

The DSWD chief said: “Let us, therefore, ensure that our children can live in an enabling, safe, and caring environment that allows them to realize their full potential and ability to contribute to nation-building.”

The NCM celebration aims to strengthen the call for public awareness and support in protecting and promoting the rights of children.

For this year, the NCM celebration has the theme: “Healthy, Nourished, Sheltered: Ensuring the Right to Life for All!” The theme gives attention to the importance of children’s access to available and quality healthcare in order to uphold their rights to survival, development, protection, and participation.

The NCM celebration is spearheaded by the DSWD and its attached agency — the Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC), and the National Youth Commission (NYC).

Children’s Month activities

To start the month-long celebration, a kick-off ceremony will be held on Monday (November 6) in Valenzuela City. It will feature a parade of children participants, messages of support from children, youth leaders, national agency partners, and child rights supporters and advocates.

On the same day, children or youth below 18 years of age will have a one-day free ride on the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) – 3 between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. and from 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Meanwhile, online learning sessions for children and parents will be conducted by the CWC at their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/CWCgovph/ and shared by the DSWD Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/dswdserves/.

On November 28, the culminating activity for the NCM celebration will be held in Taguig City.

The Department is encouraging the public to promote the MAKABATA Helpline 1383, a hotline developed by the CWC to provide immediate response, monitoring, and feedback via calls, electronic mail, and different social media platforms about child rights and concerns. #