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The Child Rights Coalition Malaysia recently launched Malaysia’s first NGO Alternative Report and Children’s Report to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. The launch follows Malaysia’s recent dialogue with the Committee in Geneva after a 19-year reporting gap, and the Committee’s latest observations on the country’s child rights record. So what does this moment tell us about the state of children’s rights in Malaysia today? On this episode of #ConsiderThis Melisa Idris speaks with education activist, Siti Rahayu Baharin
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00:10Hi, welcome back to Consider This. I'm Melissa Idris. Let's continue our conversation about
00:15child rights in Malaysia, this following Malaysia's recent review before the United Nations Committee
00:20on the Rights of the Child in Geneva. Joining me now is education activist Siti Rahayu Bahrain,
00:26who is co-founder of Buku Jalanan Chalkit, which is an NGO that seeks equal access to education
00:34for underprivileged children within the Chalkit area to help them escape the cycle of poverty.
00:39She's also an advocate for Yayasan Chalkit. Siti Rahayu, thank you so much for joining us on the show
00:44again. It's good to have you back. Now, I understand that you were in Geneva earlier this year for the
00:49review. Can I ask you what stood out to you during Malaysia's dialogue with the UN Committee
00:56on the Rights of the Child?
00:59Hi, Melissa. It's good to be back and talking about something that is so, so important. I think one
01:05thing that stood out during the dialogue was that the community recognised that Malaysia has made
01:11progress in several areas involving children's well-being and protection. There was acknowledgement
01:18of new policy effort and stronger conversations around child participation and child protection
01:24reforms. But however, I believe, I believe. But at the same time, there was also a very strong and
01:33consistent concern raised about children who continue to fall through the cracks. You know, especially
01:40those undocumented, stateless, refugee, migrant, orang asli children and urban poor children. And what was
01:50significant in Geneva was that the discussion was not only about policies on paper, but whether children
01:56are genuinely able to accept their rights equally in practice. You know, questions around education access,
02:04around nationality, documentation, discrimination, detention, and protection system came up repeatedly in all
02:13thematic areas. So I think the review reminded all of us that progress cannot only be measured by national average.
02:21We also have to ask which children are still being left behind. And why are they left behind?
02:30Yeah.
02:30When you talk about children who fall through the cracks, I know you work closely with children who are
02:36underprivileged, who are from marginalised communities. Can you tell me what they're telling you?
02:41And does the report actually reflect what you're seeing on the ground, what they're telling you,
02:48the realities that these children face? Are they fully understood and captured in the report?
02:55I think it's not only me, but I think a lot of the issues raised during the review strongly reflected
03:01what many organisations and communities have been witnessing on the ground for years, for years.
03:08And when we work directly with children in the marginalized community, right, we will be able to see
03:14that many children are not excluded because they lack potential. But they were excluded because
03:21the ecosystem were not designed to include them equally. So that's what we believe. Like, for example,
03:28right, undocumented and stateless children often face barriers entering former school. Even though
03:34education is fundamental right under UNCRC, there are still many children who did not have access to
03:42education, did not have access to justice, did not have access to healthcare system. Many children are also
03:48growing up facing overlapping challenges, poverty, unstable housing, trauma, food insecurity,
03:57lack of documentation, and also social stigma. I do think the reality were increasingly understood
04:03during the review because I think for 15 to 19 years that Malaysia did not submit our report. And this
04:11is
04:12after the 19 years after the 19 years, I think. So of course, there's a lot of improvement and changes.
04:19Yeah. Um, and, and I think, um, civil society organisation, children and affected community themselves
04:25um, have continued to bring this lived experience forward. There's conversation, we talk about it,
04:33but there's still a need to deepen public understanding that these are not isolated issues, yeah.
04:40Right, Cik, Cik.
04:41Ayu, let's zoom in on education because I think that was one of the five priority areas. It's one of
04:46the areas
04:46that you work very closely with children about. When we talk about the barriers, um, for children in
04:53marginalized communities to access education, the government often says, well, okay, let's look at
04:58stateless children, refugee children. They have access to learning centres. But what is your response?
05:04What does inclusive and unconditional education look like to you in practice, reality on the ground?
05:11You know, for every children, education is equal to school building, you know. But right now, right,
05:18when we talk about barriers to education, it's not only about whether a school building exists.
05:23Many children in marginalized communities face barriers even before they enter the building,
05:28before they enter the classroom. They are facing barriers like documentation requirement,
05:34poverty, transportation costs to go to school. You know, this is for, um, children in the rural area,
05:41Malaysian children in rural area, transportation costs with the, the high price of diesel, language barriers,
05:48discrimination, fear of enforcement, digital, um, exclusion and unstable family conditions, all affect
05:56whether a child can consistently access education. Um, what, what about those undocumented and
06:03stateless children in particular? Access to formal education remain one of the biggest concern.
06:09And then, inclusive and under, unconditional, uh, education and practice mean that child should not
06:15be denied learning because of their legal status, background, poverty, ethnicity, disability. You know,
06:21um, Melissa, what important for us is that right now, right? This is also why many sets or continue to
06:29call
06:29for Malaysia to fully ratify article 28 1a of the convention, which recognize free and compulsory
06:38primary education for all children. Ratifying this article will send a very strong message that
06:44Malaysia is committed to ensuring every child has equal access to education without discrimination.
06:50And, um, this is important for the government, I think, to listen to this, because beyond the moral and
06:56human rights responsibility, because they always say that CSO is always, um, think about human
07:03rights and also, um, moral only right. But, but by ratifying this one, I think this is also beneficial
07:10for the country itself. Educations, right? It will strengthen social cohesion, definitely. It will reduce
07:16long-term poverty. It will improve economy product productivity. It will lower social risk and help build a
07:23healthier and more skilled future workforce by building our children, by giving them access to
07:28education. This is important. I didn't know we haven't ratified that specifically. We did not.
07:37Okay. All right. Well, you know, which is, uh, uh, the exact reason why we need, um, CSOs to keep
07:44highlighting this. And I'm so proud of CSOs who've banded together and released the first CSO alternative
07:50report, uh, for children. I think that's amazing. Why, why do you see this as a, a really pivotal point,
07:58a crucial point that collaboration between NGOs, between the civil society and government is crucial,
08:06particularly when we think about how we need to improve the outcomes of our, for our children.
08:12Melissa, all of us believe it is done. We believe that protecting
08:16a child truly takes a whole village and that whole village is us. It's the government. It's the
08:23corporate sector. It's everyone of us. You know, no single institution can address complex child
08:29rights issues alone. Cannot. Government agencies, of course, they play a crucial role in policies,
08:35legislation, public system, national implementation. However, NGO, right,
08:42we work directly on the ground and understood the live reality, the daily struggle and immediate needs
08:48faced by the children and the family. So when the partnership really works well, right,
08:55children will benefit. That's that children will benefit. And when children benefit, right, the most,
09:02it become, I think the most sustainable solutions. It is the most practical, it is most inclusive,
09:08it is most responsive and human centered because you are thinking about the child and the child
09:15itself, right? So, so regardless, regardless of the child background status, all of them should be able
09:24to access perfection, education, healthcare, or, you know, all the best things, right? Just because they
09:30are children, just because, regardless, because, right, when a child is born, they don't choose in which
09:36womb they will come out from. They can't choose. So they are a victim of circumstances. So if not us,
09:45if it's not the government who give back and return back their rights, you know, who else can do that?
09:52Then all children will be further left behind.
09:56My worry is, Cik Guayu, is that we're not listening to children. We're not listening to the voices of
10:01children, what they're telling us about, what they want policies that affect them to be like. Can I ask
10:08you, because you work so closely with children, is there a message you would like to share with the
10:12public about upholding child rights in our everyday lives?
10:18Chirite. Chirite, Melissa, is not abstract international concept that, oh, international
10:23people are dealing with it, they're doing it. No. Because children, we have children everywhere.
10:28They are about whether children are safe, whether they are able to learn, whether they are healthy,
10:34protected, and treated with unity. I think sometimes, right, society only notice vulnerable
10:39children when there is a crisis. But child rights are also about prevention, are also about inclusion,
10:47about ensuring children are not invisible in everyday system and decision.
10:53Yeah. Every children, regardless, regardless of the background, they deserve opportunity to grow,
11:00to learn, and feel. You know, following our time at Geneva, right, we are bringing, we are having,
11:08we are going to organize a symposium, actually, on how to use UNCRC in bettering our Chirite policies.
11:17And we want to start it in the Malaysian parliament. On the 8th and 9th June, we're going to have
11:22symposium
11:24talking about UNCRC, talking about Chirite. We hope all of the MPs and their officers will attend,
11:31so that we can further learn about this together. And what's interesting is that in YCK, we have
11:38YCK ambassador, and YCK ambassador is the children. Child participation for us is very important. We
11:44need to listen to the children. So in that symposium, some of the children will become the moderator and
11:50also the panel speaker, so that, you know, you will be able to listen to them. And that's what makes,
11:58I think, what makes me feel like, okay, now listen, listen to the children.
12:03Definitely.
12:04Yeah.
12:04Cikgu Ayu, thank you so much for being on the show. Siti Rahayu Baharin there from
12:08Buku Jalanan Chalkit and Yayasan Chalkit wrapping up this episode of Consider This. I'm Melissa
12:14Idris signing off for the evening. Thank you so much for watching and good night.
12:32from
12:32you
12:33You
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