BALAOAN RECEIVES 2016 SEAL OF CHILD-FRIENDLY LOCAL GOVERNANCE

The municipality proved once again its effort in advancing the welfare of children during the conferment and awarding ceremonies of the 2016 Seal of Child-Friendly Local Governance (SCFLG) on June 28, 2017 at Crown Legacy Hotel, Baguio City. For two straight years, in 2015 and 2016, Balaoan is a recipient of the SCFLG, as conferred by the Council for the Welfare of Children.

Balaoan successfully passed the Child-Friendly Local Governance Audit conducted by the Inter-Agency Monitoring Task Force headed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government. The audit gauged the level of performance of the municipality insofar as implementing programs and instituting measures to uplift the welfare status of children within the 12 indicators primarily on health, nutrition, education and child participation.

The indicators included in the assessment are the following: (1) Percentage reduction in the deaths among children below five years old; (2) Percentage reduction in the number of children under six years old with below normal weights; (3) Percentage increase in the number of 3-4 years old children attending center-based day care services; (4) Completion rate for elementary schooling; (5) Absence of child labor or percentage reduction in child labor cases; (6) Percentage reduction in the number of children victims of violence, abuse, neglect, exploitation and trafficking in persons; (7)Safety measures for children in the community and schools; (8) Extent of mainstreaming of Children’s right to survival, development, protection and participation in the Core Development Agenda (CDA) of the LGU; (9) Presence of ordinance establishing Barangay Violence Against Women and Their Children Desks; (10) PhilHealth Accreditation in its main health facility or Rural Health Unit for Maternal Care Services and Primary Care Services; (11) Presence of Local School Board (LSB) Plan that is aligned with the School improvement Plan; and (12) Completed at least 70% of its LSB Plan.

The Seal of Child-Friendly Local Governance is a recognition given to LGUs that provide enabling mechanisms for the creation of a child-friendly society that is sensitive and responsive to the needs of children, where all sectors in the local government unit collaborate to produce holistic, integrated and sustainable plans, programs and strategies that promote the rights of children. LGUs conferred with the SCFLG are qualified for incentive and award under the Presidential Award for the Child-Friendly Municipalities and Cities.