Support the Child-friendly Districts to not be just a Regulation

On July 1, 2019, the West Manggarai Regency Government has stipulated Regional Regulation No. 3 of 2019 concerning the Implementation of Child-Friendly Districts. However, the implementation of Child-Friendly District (KLA) in West Manggarai is still limited to a regional regulation. Fat as the Head of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection at the DP2KBP3A Office explained that after the stipulation of the Regional Regulation on KLA in July 2019, the regional government had not made further efforts after the regulation was enacted.

Following up on this situation, Wahana Visi Indonesia (WVI) West Manggarai Program Area took the initiative to discuss with the DP2KBP3A Office. In the discussion, WVI and the DP2KBP3A Office, at the initial stage of this collaboration, agreed on two collaborative activities, to implement the stages of KLA implementation as stipulated in the Regional Regulation on the Implementation of KLA.

The two agreements for collaborative activities are the preparation meeting for capacity building for the KLA Task Force on April 29, 2021, and the Capacity Building for the Task Force and the Preparation of the KLA RAD from May 12 to May 14, 2021.

On April 29, 2021, as many as 20 participants of the KLA Task Force held a preparatory meeting before the Task Force Capacity Building and Preparation of the KLA RAD on 12-14 May 2021. The participants were given the material on the concept of KLA, indicators of a KLA, and the West Manggarai Child Protection Policy. This is intended so that the Task Force understands the basic concepts of KLA, KLA indicators, and child protection policies.

This meeting was closed with a follow-up plan in which each Regional Apparatus Organization (OPD) would fill out KLA Profile data based on their respective tupoksi. It was agreed that this data would be completed for 1 week and re-collected on May 6, 2021.

“If we want this KLA to run well, we need to prepare these data. I ask my OPD friends to cooperate in this matter. Through this data, we can conduct an independent assessment, so that we know the status of our KLA,” explained Fat.

Meanwhile, the DP2KBP3A Office appreciates WVI's involvement in this activity. Melkior Nudin, Head of the West Manggarai Regency DP2KBP3A Office said, “Thank you to WVI for facilitating this activity. Our cooperation, I believe, is based on the hope that we want to ensure that the protection of children's rights in this district is fulfilled. This meeting also has the same goal so that in the future the rights of our children are protected.”

The implementation of KLA itself has several stages, namely Planning (Declaration, Establishment of Task Forces, KLA Profile), Pre KLA (Self-Assessment), KLA Action Plan, Implementation of KLA, and Evaluation, Reporting. So far, the implementation of the KLA in West Manggarai is still in the preparation stage, namely the formation of a task force. However, the local government admits that the already formed Task Force still has to be capacitated to fully understand its role in the implementation of KLA in West Manggarai.

Through a deep understanding of its role, the Task Force is expected to be able to develop Regional Action Plans based on the data that has been collected and processed.

Written by: Kristian Yansen Sahputra, Staff of West Manggarai Program Area Wahana Visi Indonesia