Unicef goodwill envoys Anne, Daphne speak up on key issues concerning children
BY PAULINE JOY M. GUTIERREZ
UNITED Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef) conferred on February 7 the formal title of Unicef National Goodwill Ambassador to longtime celebrity advocates Anne Curtis and Daphne Oseña-Paez.
Paez was appointed Unicef Special Advocate for Children in 2010 and Curtis was named Unicef Celebrity Advocate for Children in 2014. Both have actively worked with the organization since 2010 and 2009, respectively. Paez’s scope of work mainly focused on infant and maternal health, while Curtis was early childhood care and development.
They joined child rights advocate Gary Valenciano, who was the first recipient of the title in the country in 1997, and high-profile global names, such as David Beckham, Orlando Bloom, Jackie Chan, Liam Neeson, Shakira and Lily Singh are in the long list of Unicef Goodwill Ambassadors and Advocates.
As envoys, they play a critical role in raising awareness on the needs of children by fronting fundraising event, as well as educating the community on key issues concerning children on behalf of the agency.
Paez and Curtis made statements during the Unicef press event regarding the call for collective actions to fight measles and reexamine the lowering of the minimum criminal age of responsibility.
Earlier this month, the Department of Health through Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III declared a measles outbreak in Metro Manila following the 550 percent increase in patients contracting the virus from January 1 to February 6 compared with the same period in 2018.
“This is why it is important to have proper immunization, and also dealing with the parents and health-care workers and centers,” said Curtis. “It should be a priority because I understand that a lot of children are getting affected by the measles outbreak.”
There have been 55 deaths from measles recorded at San Lazaro Hospital in Manila, most of them children aged three months to four years old.
In a tweet dated February 3, Paez said that children should be immunized and protected from the preventable disease: “No child should be dying from measles. Please have your kids vaccinated,” she urged.
An estimated 2.5 million Filipino children who were not vaccinated against measles remain at risk of getting the disease, cited Unicef in a World Health Organization (WHO) report.
“Vaccination to prevent measles is available free of cost in government health centers. The measles vaccine is safe and effective, and has been successfully used in the Philippines for more than 40 years now. Measles in children is deadly and can cause longterm complications and disabilities which can seriously impede development and potential in our children,” Unicef Philippines Deputy Representative Julia Rees said in a press statement.
In a similar vein, both Unicef ambassadors have spoken up with regards to the lowering of the age of criminal liability from 15 years old to 9 years old after the House committee on justice approved the bill on final reading in January that would amend Republic Act 10630. The counterpart measure in the Senate remains pending.
“After having worked with young children this year, I’m determined to work more with those on their way to adulthood,” Curtis said.
“As you may know, I’ve been speaking about the debate on the lowering of the age on criminal responsibility. I was alarmed by this issue and that’s what prompted me to speak from my heart out of genuine concern for the children.”
The host/actress was pertaining to an earlier Twitter post where she said: “At that age [9], they are still very much children. They still have a chance to change their ways if they happen to cause or get into any trouble, instead of being sent to jail and sentenced as an adult.”
Curtis said that during her discussions with Unicef, she “learned that if the current laws are to be fully implemented, there would be no real need to lower the age.”
Unicef Philippines Representative Lotta Sylwander told BUSINESSMIRROR that this recent move by the Philippine Congress is headed against the worldwide system regarding juvenile accountability. “The goal is to increase the age of criminal liability, not lower it.”
Sylwander noted that the crime rate involving minors has gone down worldwide.
Paez said the current law still needs to be fully implemented: “So I think in keeping with what Unicef is advocating, a restorative justice for young people and keeping the [criminal age threshold at 15] and not to lower it, in fact, make the current law work. Because it works, it’s a good law. It just hasn’t even been fully implemented. So give it a chance.”
She cited scientific studies showing that brain function reaches maturity only at around 16 years old, affecting children’s reasoning and impulse control. She said, “This is [just not] something you read on briefing notes, but [see] in the field.”
Paez shared her encounters with children in conflict with the law as part of her voluntary work with Unicef: “I got to see both [the] government and private sector run programs dealing with restorative justice—children in conflict with the law. I actually met one child who was able to turn his life around. I spoke with some of these children, and with a lot of them I completely forgot they were even CICLs.”