Regulation In Aceh Backs Child Protection - The Jakarta Globe

Image via Wikipedia

Authorities in staunchly Islamic Aceh on Thursday launched an effort to disseminate awareness of the need to strengthen protection of children through the publication of 9,000 copies of a local religious regulation on the matter.

The distribution of the kanun , or regulation based on the canons on Islam, was aimed at ensuring local officials, academics, social workers and the public were aware of child protection issues.

“This kanun is a reflection of our commitment to the best child protection principles as mandated by the Convention on the Rights of the Child,” Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf said in a Unicef news release.

The provincial legislature approved the kanun in December, creating a historic milestone by putting the rights of children at the forefront of legal and moral obligations. Aceh was granted the ability to issue its own laws as part of its special autonomy status.

The new publication will help to spread awareness of the kanun, Unicef said.

The organization has supported the drafting of the kanun and funded the development of the bilingual publication, which will be distributed to all related provincial and district departments, academics, nongovernmental organizations, social workers, orphanages, Islamic boarding schools and public schools.

The 2004 tsunami that devastated Aceh paved the way for the kanun. Some 2,853 children in the province were left without one or both parents and were in need of legal protection. Additionally, thousands of children were also left orphans from the 30-year separatist conflict in the region, which ended after a peace agreement was reached in 2006.

The four principles of the UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child are covered in the kanun: non-discrimination, best interests of the child, the right to live, grow and develop, and the right to participate. The kanun is also based on the national Child Protection Law and provides legal protection from exploitation, violence and abuse.

“This kanun is proof of turning a tragedy into an opportunity and building back better with not just brick and mortar, but with legal basis and laws to protect children,” said Angela Kearney, Unicef’s Indonesia representative.

“The challenge, now, is how to turn this legal framework into supporting bylaws and policies, so it can be implemented to create a sustainable environment to protect the children of Aceh.”

Unicef is also assisting the development of further technical regulations and advocacy to ensure the implementation of the kanun with the provincial government’s social affairs office and child protection bureau.