Child's Forum, New Hope for Remote Area of East Halmahera

Increasing children's participation needs to be supported by various activities. WVI together with the government mobilized the formation of child's forums in every WVI service area in 15 provinces, one of them is in a remote area of East Halmahera Regency, namely Tatangapu Village.

The Tatangapu Village Child's Forum was formed to encourage children's involvement in the decision-making process about everything related to themselves and carried out with awareness, understanding, and mutual will so that children can enjoy the results or benefit from these decisions. Children with certain age requirements and who have obtained parental/guardian permission can join this child's forum.

Pastor Vebri Masia, the assistant to the children's forum said that the community and parents did not fully understand the meaning of children's participation, so the presence of the children's forum in Tatangapu Village could give a new color to their village.

“The participation of children is still not widely understood by the community, including in the family. How many parents involve their children in decision-making, such as going for recreation. Usually, in this condition, the child will come along. Father or mother who decides. Even though that is the form of children's participation when children's views can be heard," explained Pastor Vebri.

The birth of a children's forum in Tatangapu Village is also based on the many issues of unfavorable child behavior such as children often saying disrespectful words, smoking children, drinking alcohol, and accessing pornographic videos. The presence of the children's forum is expected to help change children's behavior as well as invite parents to participate in the formation of positive characters in children.

Written by: Eko Krismanto, Development Facilitator for of Area Program East Halmahera Wahana Visi Indonesia