This year Philippines is celebrating its 30th National
Children’s Month and the theme for this year is “Kalusugan, Kaisipan, at
kapakanan ng Bawat Bata Ating Tutukan”. The theme focuses on the well-being
and mental health of every child. Individuals who are below 18 years old are
considered as children.
November is the National Children’s Month here in the Philippines under
Republic Act No. 10661 that was signed on 2015 by the late President Benigno
Aquino. It was declared in commemoration of the Convention on the Rights of the
Child by the United Nations General Assembly on November 20, 1989.
The first country that celebrated Chidren’s Day and turned it into a
holiday is Turkey back in 1920. In 1925, the global adoption of this holiday
happened when International Children’s Day was proclaimed during the World
Conference on Child Welfare at Geneva Switzerland.
The Focus of National Children’s Month is to offer help to those
children who suffered violence, abuse, natural calamities and poverty. In fact,
as of 2022, there were more than 246,000 street children in the country. The
main problems faced by children in the Philippines are sexual violence,
psychological violence, exploitation, bullying and violence in the internet.
