By Matters India Reporter
Chiang Mai: Special church ministries, pastoral care, and psycho-social support are required to meet the impact of Covid-19 among children and their families, says a Church consultation.
“The unique challenges and needs that children and their families are facing given the unprecedented Covid-19 crisis must be identified and addressed through,” recommended the virtual consultation organized by the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) with experts from across Asia.
The consultation stressed pastoral care to strengthen relationships between children and parents by intervening in cases of domestic violence, abuse, and conflict under the extreme stress caused by the pandemic.
“Special considerations and accommodations must be made for children with no access to technology under lockdown and for children with disabilities,”said the April 29–30 regional consultation on “Upholding the Dignity and Rights of Children in a ‘New Normal’ Era.”
Such pastoral care, it added, must entail the creation of safe spaces for children to share their stories and experiences through different mediums.
The consultation was organized as part of the CCA’s Asia Advocacy Network on the Dignity and Rights of Children.
Thirty-eight specially invited experts in the field of child rights and protection who attended the consultation suggested that no child should be left behind in pandemic recovery and emphasized the necessity of urgent and innovative pastoral care and support for children through special church ministries.
In his opening address, CCA general secretary Reverend Mathews George Chunakara stated that the spread of Covid-19 had forced millions of children across the world to continue their education from their homes, thus experiencing a ‘new normal’ in this context as well.
“The impacts of the global health pandemic are evident and have revealed the vulnerabilities and challenges as well as the denial of the rights and dignity of today’s children in most Asian countries. These serve as an indicator for all of us to carefully consider the steps that we need to take, especially to address the concerns of children, given that they are forced to continually live in environments that are confining and constricting,” stated Chunakara.
Lucio V. Sarandrea, a Child Rights expert from the UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office, in a presentation on “Challenges to child rights protection in the new normal era” said that it was critical to enforce child safeguarding mechanisms to respond to the crisis, improve current circumstances, and prevent such deteriorations from re-occurring in the future. This was to ensure that no child was left behind.
Sarandrea highlighted the complex situations of “digital gap” the “educational gap,” and the “transportation gap” that children were facing.
He also suggested updating the means of remote assistance, from old-fashioned child hotlines to leveraging social media as spaces to reach out, provide psychological support/assistance, and even as a means to report abuse.
“Children are our present; they face today’s realities,” said Sarandrea, adding that children must be taken seriously and must be listened to.
World Vision International representatives Alodia Santos and Eu-Lee Chng facilitated a joint session that focused on “Child rights protection and challenges to children’s education in a safe environment in a new normal era.”
They stated that the constant flux of “lock and lift” added to the stress children were feeling under the pandemic. They also suggested a “triangular ecosystem approach” with collaborations among community leaders (who lead educational services and support), educational institutions (that are equipped during the “lock and lift” scenarios), and parents (who support continued learning and protection).
The key priorities and areas of focus suggested by Santos and Chng included opening schools as safely as possible when restrictions ease; ensuring all children, especially the most vulnerable, return to school; helping children with learning loss; determining the most effective means of distance learning; and continuing the empowerment of homes as venues of playful and child-centered learning.
Father Biju P. Thomas of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church in India offered a model for child mentoring based on the childhood of Jesus. He situated Jesus’ childhood as a process of learning through wisdom and knowledge, obedience, and experience.
“As Jesus experienced physical, mental, spiritual, and social growth, we must strive to replicate the balanced and complete growth of Jesus for all children,” said Father Thomas.