Children's Wellbeing Roadmap to be released in a month: Wan Azizah

PUTRAJAYA: An integrated and comprehensive Children's Wellbeing Roadmap will be drawn out in a month to address various problems plaguing children, including refugees and the marginalised.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail stressed that the country had failed to ensure the wellbeing of children, despite the millions spent for almost three decades.
"We spent a lot of money from 1989-2017, about RM287million but the results were not (evident) ... why are there no results? We don't see the (progress) as seen in other countries.
"We can't claim to be a caring society if we ignore and neglect those who are most in need of care," she told a press conference here.
Dr Wan Azizah, who is also Women, Family and Community Minister said the government cannot talk about developing a better future if one in three and one in four children continue to live in poor conditions.
She added that this was despite having sufficient data on all the problems shadowing children in the country.
"We do not want a piecemeal approach to this. It is more than just a health issue but one that has social and behavioural dimensions. A lack of education, poverty and neglect all conspire to create this problem.
"We also need to address the issue of marginalised children, especially stateless children and the children of refugees. We are also aware of instances of sexual abuse of children," she said.
Dr Wan Azizah said some of the initiatives are ongoing, but we need a proper coordination because the plans are fragmented.
She also said the Cost-of-Living Aid, which was previously called the 1Malaysia People's Aid (BR1M), was a good initiative but had failed to take into account the differences in the poverty of every recipient.
"A household that has eight children and one with only one child receive similar aid. We have to also compare the poverty in each state," she said.
She said the country had to change the practice of providing welfare aid to providing sustainable aid for the people to become self-reliant and raise their living standards.