Balaoan gets National Child-Friendly Local Governance Award for 2018

Balaoan affirms its commitment as a friendly haven for effective child care and protection as it received the Seal of Child Friendly Governance Award for 2018. Balaoan has been receiving said award since 2014.

“The recognition that we have just received proves once and for all our resolve to make Balaoan not only a peaceful and progressive community but more importantly a place where children are given prime importance in socio-economic welfare and well-being,” Balaoan lady mayor Atty. Aleli U. Concepcion said.

She said that the municipal government had focused its child care programs in accordance with its Child Welfare Code and had made its council for the Protection of Children functionally effective to respond to the needs of children in the community. It has provided safety nets in order to ensure the effectiveness of its child care and welfare campaigns and efforts.

The award is based on the result of the mandatory Child-Friendly Local Governance Audit (CFLGA) conducted annually in all cities and municipalities throughout the country.

The program audit is designed to enhance the delivery of social service for children as the government aims for child-friendly Philippines. It consists of 12-points indicators to assess the overall performance of local government units (LGUs).

The top indicators include reduction in deaths among under five-year old children; reduction of incidence under six years old on children with below normal weights; percentage increase in day care/early learning center attendance; and completion rate for elementary schooling.

Other indicators include the absence of child labor or percentage reduction in child labor cases; percentage reduction in the number of children victims of violence, abuse, neg!ect exploitation, and trafficking; safety measures for children in the community and school; extent of mainstreaming children’s rights to survival, development, protection and participation in the Core Development Agenda (CDA); presence of ordinance establishing the Barangay Violence Against Woman and their Children (VAW/C) desk; maternal and primary care services inclusion in the PhilHealth accreditation in its main health facility or rural health unit, Local School Board {LSB} Plan that is aligned with the School Improvement Plan, and at least 70 percent completion of its LSB plan.