“Ara Wede: A Vote for Children”, a unique program by the UNICEF to ensure that every vote cast at the presidential election will be a vote to uphold rights of children, was launched recently.The program calls upon the 35 presidential candidates to commit and take action to alleviate six critical issues affecting six million children in Sri Lanka.
UNICEF said this is an important opportunity at a time the country celebrates the 30th anniversary of becoming a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Sri Lanka was one of the first signatories to the CRC.“Sri Lanka has a proud history of prioritising the needs of its children and it has shown real gains in healthcare, education and poverty over many years,” UNICEF country Representative Tim Sutton said.
He was speaking at a media roundtable organised to invite the fourth estate to actively take part in the program to create awareness among the people and the presidential candidates of their outstanding commitments, at the Hilton Hotel recently.“But there are still many children who cannot reach their full potential due to various issues and we believe when it comes to child rights no one should be left behind ,” he added. UNICEF has identified six major challenges that need the attention of the highest office in the country.
The country has to over come these challenges to allow its most important resource – the children- to enjoy an equal chance to live, learn, grow and succeed in a rapidly changing and increasingly complex world.An ad campaign, titled Ara-Wede has been launched by UNICEF to create awareness among the presidential hopefuls on these areas of concern with ‘ending child malnutrition forever,’ being the first and the foremost.
The other commitments are - education system to prepare children for the future, end child poverty, ban damaging physical punishment against children, create an inclusive and peaceful Sri Lanka and fight climate change and prepare the country for its effects.The commercials in all three languages will be constantly telecast on TV to remind the candidates of these commitments to the children.