Zamboanga City- Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC) spearheaded the 3- day workshop on June 9-11 at Marcian Business Hotel, Zamboanga City to Regional Information Officers (RIOs) from various agencies in Zamboanga Peninsula.

 

CWC, envisioning to cascade the National Plan of Action (NPAC) down to the region and municipalities, recognized the pivotal role played by the RIOs in the implementation of the Advocacy and Communication Plan (ADVOCOM) that will be implemented until 2016.

alt
CWC issues Certificate of Participation to participants

” This activity will enjoin other agencies to help us in advocating programs for children and come up localized planning to be included in the agenda of the Regional Council for the Welfare of Children , said Mr. Erlino Bardillon of CWC.

Edna Estal of CWC also added that the advocacy to localize is in support to the 2nd NPAC (2011-2016) which will operationalize the propose strategy for the children’s rights.

Estal added that such initiatives include enforcement of certain provisions of the law on the Milk Code and RA 10028 (“Expanded Breastfeeding Promotion Act of 2009).
“It also includes the stringent policy measures to address the continuously increasing number of maternal deaths particularly those women in age group 24 and rising teen-age pregnancy, she added.

“Hence, there’s a need to harmonize and strengthen advocacy efforts on the following such as the continuing reorganization and reactivation of Local Councils for the Protection of Children (LCPC) to ensure that they are both established and functional and also encourage LGUs to increase investments and budget allocation on children’s programs,” she emphasized.

Likewise, DSWD Assistant Regional Director Riduan Hadjimuden underscored in his opening remarks the vital power of communication sector in bringing public awareness and the need for planning for the advocacy and communication plan in order to create synergy and maximize effort and resources among agencies.

Participants engaging in workshop worked together in drafting a regional ADVOCOM plan to be included in the agenda of RCWC.

 

ADVOCOM plan supports the achievement of the NPAC goals through appropriate and effective communication strategies and activities by advocating for legislation and policies that promote and strengthen child rights as well as promote good governance for child care and protection.

Activities ended successfully with collaborative partnership developed among other agencies such as DILG, CWC, DSWD, DepEd, DOLE, PIA,NYC, CHR, NGO and media.