Chennai: UNICEF will contribute to the formation of ‘Tamilnadu State Child Protection Academy’ to be set up to protect the rights of the children, said Hyun Hee Ban, head of its India division. She said the academy would be one of the two major projects of the State Social Welfare Department.
She said UNICEF was formulating an integrated social policy for children’s rights for the next five years and would meet with Central and State government officials to seek their views.
She interacted with reporters at Shastri Bhavan in Chennai Monday. She noted the need for co-ordination and co-operation between the Social Welfare Department, the Judiciary and the Police in protecting the rights of children. She added the involvement of the School Education Department in the protection of children is still needed. She also said he planned to create awareness among the media in reporting on crimes against children and sexual harassment.
Stating Tamilnadu is high in literacy rate due to schemes like the nutritious noon-meal programne, Ban said the Education Department is implementing programmes to improve the skills of students in grades 9 to 12 with the help of UNICEF.
Ban, who later responded to questions from reporters, said Covid-19 pandemic had created troubles in educating children. She said it was necessary to make unique arrangements in all the states of India to rectify this. Otherwise, she said, there could be a huge gap in learning between children.
She lauded the government of Tamilnadu for its excellent work in administering the corona vaccine and said it was commendable that the Central and State governments had worked together to make vaccine awareness reach the masses.
Earlier, Additional Director General of the Press Information Bureau, Chennai and Regional Outreach Bureau M Annadurai recalled that PIB and UNICEF had jointly conducted public awareness campaigns during the Covid-19 period.