How can the new Government best take care of our children

Stop Child Cruelty Trust and the Child Protection Alliance are urging Sri Lanka's new government to place children first, with a practical reform agenda that moves child protection from rhetoric into real public policy.

Although Sri Lanka ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991, the article argues that child protection has become a national crisis and now demands direct, measurable government action.

Why This Proposal Matters

Stop Child Cruelty Trust (SCCT) and the Child Protection Alliance (CPA), representing thirteen organizations working for child rights, have appealed to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and the newly elected government to elevate child welfare to the center of national governance. Their message is clear: the true beneficiaries of the future are children, and national priorities should reflect that reality.

Their summary proposal, titled Summary Proposal for the Protection and Promotion of Child Rights - A Dawn of a New Era, notes that people under the age of 18 make up 25 percent of Sri Lanka's population. Even with that weight and with Sri Lanka's UNCRC commitments, the authors argue that child protection remains in crisis and requires a structured, time-bound government response.

Political Commitment and Public Expectation

All major party leaders, including Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the National People's Power, signed a child protection proposal in 2022 that aimed to place child welfare at the heart of the political agenda. SCCT and CPA say it was therefore deeply disappointing that child welfare was not given a clear policy focus during the 2024 presidential and general election campaigns.

The proposal is positioned as a practical roadmap for the new administration to create sustainable change and keep children first beyond campaign promises and public rhetoric.

NCPA Assessment Report

The proposal was submitted together with a companion report titled Children First - A Deep Dive into the National Child Protection Authority's Role in Child Protection in Sri Lanka. This assessment, authored by iProbono, reviewed NCPA annual reports, Auditor General findings, and key statistics covering 2014 to 2022.

The report found that the Authority is not fully using the powers already given to it. It calls for stronger resource allocation, better data-sharing, closer intersectoral collaboration, and more robust monitoring and evaluation so the NCPA can respond more effectively to child protection failures.

Short-Term Priorities

Appoint a Presidential Task Force for Women's and Children's Issues.
Provide additional budget allocation for education and child welfare.
Conclude the legislative process to ban corporal punishment in all settings.
Revise the 2016 circular banning corporal punishment in schools and strengthen guidance on eliminating school violence.
Deliver nationwide teacher capacity development on positive discipline techniques and violence prevention.
Update child protection laws and regulations.

Medium-Term Priorities

Make the National Child Protection Authority an independent institution as intended under Act No. 50 of 1998.
Implement the legislative plan to abolish corporal punishment in all settings.
Implement the National Child Protection Policy approved by Cabinet in 2019.
Establish a Children's Act aligned with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Establish separate courts dedicated to children.
Introduce a tagging system for suspected child abusers on bail to help expedite cases.
Establish a confidential register of convicted child sex offenders.
Provide compulsory safeguarding training for everyone dealing with children.
Require a special criminal record check for everyone dealing with children.
Provide age-appropriate sex education.

Long-Term Priorities

Protect women's and children's rights in the Constitution.
Implement the Children's Act.
Ensure broad reform of institutionalized child care.
Plan to end period poverty.

Campaign and Public Accountability

SCCT and CPA launched the #NOguti campaign in 2022, which helped secure Cabinet approval for the Bill on Legal Reform to Abolish Corporal Punishment on 29 April 2024. That progress was reinforced during the first Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children in Bogota, held from 07 to 08 November 2024, where the government pledged to implement the bill by mid-2025.

The organizations say their next campaign, #InOurHands, will encourage the public to hold elected representatives accountable and push for implementation of both the summary proposal and the NCPA report recommendations.

Closing Note

SCCT and CPA invite citizens and professional bodies working with children to join the campaign for reform. For further details, the article directs readers to www.stopchildcruelty.com and info@stopchildcrueltytrust.org. The piece is attributed to Dr. Tush Wickramanayaka, Chairperson of Stop Child Cruelty Trust and Co-convener of the Child Protection Alliance.