DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 19 February) – While the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) has made significant gains in improving the plight of children, “too many children are still being left behind,” a United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) official said.
Kyungsun Kim, UNICEF Representative to the Philippines, listed down the negative and positive developments involving children’s development in the Bangsamoro region.
“BARMM still lags behind in most social sector indicators (for children),” she candidly said during the 5th Bangsamoro International Development Partners Forum (BIDPF) held here last week.
Themed “From Promise to Prosperity: Celebrating Gains, Accelerating BARMM’s Transformation Through Strategic Partnerships,” the forum gathered at least 200 officials or representatives of major international, national and regional institutions working in the BARMM.
Kim listed the negative developments facing children in the Bangsamoro as follows:
One in three children in the Bangsamoro region is not in school, with persistent barriers in poorer and more remote communities.
More than one in three children remain chronically malnourished, undermining brain development, school readiness, and lifelong productivity.
Only one in two children is currently fully immunized against vaccine-preventable diseases, exposing children in the region to potentially fatal disease outbreaks.
About four in 10 children still live under the monetary poverty line, and many more children experience multidimensional deprivation.
“These challenges are intensified by factors such as location where they live, gender, disability, ethnicity, and the income level of households. Their effects are lasting. A child out of school at the age of eight is less likely to read by ten, advance to secondary school, or secure stable work,” Kim said.
“A child who is stunted is more likely to struggle in class and less likely as an adult to earn an income that can contribute to the revenues that can break the intergenerational cycle of poverty,” she added.
Kim stressed the need to close the gap to ensure that children in BARMM grow up with the services and opportunities like the rest of the Philippines which, according to her, will require stronger sustained collective efforts.
On the brighter side, she noted that school enrollment in the Bangsamoro region has risen by 17% since 2023, child poverty has declined from over 60% in 2019 to around 40% nowadays, and chronic malnutrition has fallen from 45% in 2015 to 34% in 2023.
Kim urged sustained investments for the development of children in the Bangsamoro region.
“When children are healthy, well-nourished, protected and are learning and happy, communities grow more resilient, societies become stronger, and peace becomes durable,” she said.
“As the BARMM government is young, investing in children offers the BARMM government one of the highest return pathways to stability, economic growth, and inclusive lasting peace,” she added. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)
