On August 28, a webinar was held on the human rights of vulnerable children for the development of Thailand attended by 3 local experts in the fields of education, human rights and journalism.
The event was held by an international peace organization, Heavenly Culture World Peace Restoration of Light (HWPL), to discuss the need to improve awareness and guarantee the human rights of fragile children in need of emergency relief.
According to the UNESCO, one year into the COVID-19 pandemic, close to half the world’s students are still affected by partial or full school closures, and over 100 million additional children will fall below the minimum proficiency level in reading. In Thailand, schools have been closed for more than four months due to the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic causing a crisis of students’ dropping out. Without the government’s support, the dropout rate will increase by 10 to 15 percent, according to the Bangkok Post report. In addition, EEF (Equitable Education Fund) said the poor Thai students receiving higher education are only 5 percent due to educational inequality, with about 670,000 children not attending school due to the government’s lack of support for school infrastructure, teachers, and curricula.
Natalie Bergman, a human rights lawyer proposed active government support as a way to deal with the reality of Thai children. “More teenagers have dropped out of school since the pandemic and are going to work to support their families. The government should support computers, smartphones, and the internet free of charge for students’ online studies and also guarantee legal rights and vaccination of immigrant workers’ children.” And she added, “Thai government should not use violence against children in an anti-government protest.”
Kowit Phothisan, an editor of Way Magazine shared the reality of child labor around the world. “There are 160 million children who is not in school, but in labor, with 79 million children aged 5 to 17 working in environments that are harmful to children. They must be chosen to work for a living. This is the reality of children around the world, and to address this, we urge the government to invest in social protection programs for vulnerable children and families first.”
Bow Nuttaa Mahattna, a human rights advocate added the role of NGO. “NGOs can raise awareness about the reality that children’s human rights are violated and seek solutions through their communication channel.”
Heavenly Culture World Peace Restoration of Light (HWPL) is calling for social and nationwide efforts to protect children’s human rights and the right to education triggered by the coronavirus outbreak. HWPL is working to find practical solution to raise awareness of human rights, including the invention of a legal framework for peace, religious harmony, human rights webinars, peace education for students and citizens, and voluntary work. In the September, there will be the 7th Anniversary of the September 18th HWPL World Peace Summit for peace and the cessation of war.
