 The
Sixth Country Programme for Children (CPC 6) is a programme of
cooperation between the Government of the Philippines and the United
Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for the period, 2005-2009. The
five-year programme, which came into force through the signing of an
agreement in April 2005 called the Country Programme Action Plan (CPAP),
aims to improve the well-being of children in the Philippines.
Carrying forward the Child Friendly Movement (CFM) that was adopted
since the previous five-year programme (CPC V), the goal of the current
programme is to reduce by at least 50 per cent from 2004 figures the
disparities for the major health, nutrition, education & protection
indicators particularly in 24 CPC 6 pilot areas nationwide. The
Child-Friendly Movement is a nationwide campaign that involves all
sectors of society to promote and protect children’s rights.
Budgetary
Requirement
The
programme of cooperation requires about P2.3 billion over the next five
years. UNICEF committed to provide up to P625 million from its regular
resources and will seek additional funding from other sources of up to P1.7
billion to be able to meet the required amount.
What are the
Programme Components?
CPC
6 has six programme components, namely:
- Health and
Nutrition Programme aims to reduce
infant and under-five mortality rates and child and maternal
under-nutrition in the focus areas.
- Education
Programme seeks to increase access and participation in early
childhood care and development, enrolment in primary school, and
completion of primary school.
- Child
Protection Programme aspires to
identify children who are vulnerable to and are victims of abuse,
exploitation and violence through preventive actions and early
interventions.
- HIV/AIDS
Programme strives to enable the most at-risk children and youth
in focus areas to protect themselves from HIV and risk factors for HIV
infection.
- Communication
Programme seeks to increase the
population’s basic understanding of the Convention on the Rights of
the Child and generate commitment from policy and decision-makers to
create a safe and protection environment for children.
- Local Policy
and Institutional Development Programme aims to increase
investments, enforce child-friendly policies and accountability for
improving the situation of children in local government units.
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Through CPC 6, the Philippine Government and the UNICEF hope to reduce
disparities in the situation of children and women in the country
particularly in the pilot provinces and cities.
FOCUS AREAS
Provinces & cities with
direct assistance from UNICEF thru CPC 6
CPC 6 covered 19 provinces and 5 urban
cities nationwide: 8 in Luzon, 7 in Visayas and 9 in Mindanao. In these
areas, UNICEF supports local government units to ensure the delivery of
basic services for children and women, and to model good programme
practices for children.
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Aurora
Camarines Norte
Isabela
Masbate
Mt. Province
Manila City
Pasay City
Quezon City
Antique
Capiz
Eastern Samar
Guimaras
Negros Oriental
Northern Samar
Cebu City
Agusan
del Sur
Bukidnon
Maguindanao
N.Cotabato
Sarangani
Sul.Kudarat
Sulu
Zamboanga
del
Sur
Davao City
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CPC 6 Focus Areas in Region
XII
In Region XII, three out of four provinces comprising the region namely,
North Cotabato, Sarangani and Sultan
Kudarat are among the pilot areas.
Four
Gifts for Children
In promoting the Child-Friendly Movement in non-CPC provinces and cities in
the country, the UNICEF supports the local government units through the
Local Policy and Institutional Development (LPID) to enable them to deliver
the “Four Gifts for Children” which includes the (1) The Local Development
Plan for Children; (2) Local Investment Plan for Children; (3) Local Code on
Children; and, (4) regular reporting on the state of children.
This is a rights and life cycle-based development plan which contains goals,
strategies, targets and programs for the well-being and protection of
children’s rights throughout their life cycle. It supports the Child 21
which is the country’s framework for plan and program development for
children for 25 years.
This supplements the LDPC. It outlines the various programs and projects
including the financing strategies, as well as, fund sources (both GOP and
ODA) that are necessary for realizing children’s rights in the various
stages of their life cycle.
This is a consolidation of all ordinances on children that are enforceable,
realistic and responsive to children’s needs as identified based on the
results of the situation analysis. The code, which should be consistent with
the Local Government Code, implements and reinforces national laws on
children.
This monitors gifts 1, 2 and 3 and other strategic plans for children.
Assessment results is outlined in the Annual State of Region/Province/City
Children Report which is usually presented during Children’s month or any
public event in the localities. It increases awareness on the status and
condition of the children and promotes renewed reflection on and commitment
to the obligations of CRC from various stakeholders to move towards creation
of Child-Friendly Province/City. It also identifies key concerns of
children, strategic entry points and key actors for realizing the rights of
children and women in the locality.
What is a Knowledge Center?
The Knowledge Center (KC) on
Children and Women is a resource center where one can get accurate data
and information, particularly on children and women, in easy-to-use
formats. It serves as the “production and access site” where the
KC staff members prepare knowledge products, including graphs, charts,
maps, fact-sheets, information kits, policy papers, and advocacy
materials with the public accessing the database on children and women
conveniently in one location.
But rather than just a
mere repository of information, the UNICEF, who is the primemover of this
strategy, envisioned it to be an information-to-action center wherein the
various knowledge products available are hoped to be used to promote
advocacy on the rights of children to mass media, generate support for and
influence local policies on children and women.
It has been established
in at least 50 provinces and cities nationwide and is expanding rapidly to
other local government units in the country.
In Region XII, the KC was
established since 2001 in the Provinces of North Cotabato, Sarangani and
Sultan Kudarat and recently (March 2005), in Cotabato City.
What is ChildInfo/DevInfo Database System?
One of the unique
features of the Knowledge Center is the ChildInfo (now DevInfo) Database
system. It is a standardized but user-friendly database and
presentation software that assists programme implementers in putting order
to their data and in preparing tables, charts, or maps which they can use
for planning, policy formulation and decision making. The
DevInfo, specifically, was adopted and is being used by the United Nations
system and a number of UN-member countries as a tool to monitor the progress
of a country toward achieving goals and targets of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs).
It has been taught to
over 1,000 users and installed in over 100 locations nationwide.
In Region XII, the
ChildInfo system is adopted by most of the provinces and cities as their
main database system particularly for social development indicators.
In some CPC-focus provinces, the system has been adopted up to municipal
level.
Status of
Operationalization in Region XII
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