Big Show of Support at Pelindung Anak Sign Up Event

By Nick Baker, Communication and Knowledge Management Officer 

Thousands of people have signed up as a Pelindung Anak, including  Minister Yohana Yembise (second from left) and UNICEF Indonesia National Ambassador Ferry Salim (right). ©UNICEF Indonesia/2015/Nick Baker

Indonesians from all walks of life came together on Universal Children’s Day 2015 to stand up against violence and become a Pelindung Anak (Child Protector).

Ministers, actors, psychologists and models were just some of the people who attended UNICEF Indonesia’s sign up event for its innovative new Pelindung Anak campaign.

The campaign aims to create a movement that raises awareness and fuels action to end violence against children.

Participants were encouraged to visit the campaign website (www.pelindunganak.org), where they could register to receive information on the extent of violence in Indonesia and commit to protect children in their area.

“Violence against children is the silent crisis of Indonesia. It will only stop if all of us come together and protect every child as if they are our own,” UNICEF Indonesia Representative Gunilla Olsson said. “If it takes a village to raise a child, it also takes a village to protect a child.”

Ferry Salim celebrates 10 years with UNICEF

by Sarah Grainger

Ferry Salim on a trip to Aceh with UNICEF in 2012. 

© UNICEF Indonesia/2012

JAKARTA, Indonesia, June 2014 - Actor, model and entrepreneur Ferry Salim is celebrating 10 years as UNICEF Indonesia’s National Ambassador.

It was June 2004, when UNICEF approached him and asked him if he would be prepared to work as an advocate for children’s rights.

A father of three children, he readily agreed.

Just six months later, the Indian Ocean tsunami struck northern Sumatra as well as Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and many other countries, leaving 230,000 people dead.

Indonesia celebrates children’s rights with innovative solutions to development challenges

By Sarah Grainger

Anies Baswedan takes quality education to rural Indonesia through a social movement with young people. © UNICEF Indonesia/2014/Harimawan

JAKARTA, 24 April 2014 – UNICEF Indonesia brought together a number of leading innovators at an event in Jakarta’s Erasmus Huis on Wednesday to present their ideas on how to tackle some of the key challenges children continue to face in this booming South-East Asian economy. 

The TED-style event, called ‘ACTIVATE talks’, was part of UNICEF’s celebrations of the 25th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). UNICEF has also declared 2014 the “Year of Innovations and Equity”.

Indonesia launches #ENDviolence against children

By Michael Klaus

Edi Suharto (left), Director of Child Social Welfare at the Ministry of Social Affairs calling the national child helpline TeSA 129 to learn about the kind of issues that are usually reported by children, with the Deputy Minister for Child Protection, Waju Hartomo, UNICEF Indonesia National Ambassador Ferry Salim and UNICEF Deputy Representative Marc Lucet listening. ©UNICEF Indonesia/2013/Dionisio.

JAKARTA, 20 November 2013 – On World Children’s Day, Indonesia joined the global initiative #ENDviolence against Children.

“Let’s be clear: The launch of the campaign today is only the beginning of a long process. We have been able to form a strong alliance to raise awareness about the impact of violence on children and to strengthen prevention and response systems. Over the coming months, we will work hard to get many more partners on board,” said UNICEF Indonesia Deputy Representative Marc Lucet during the event that was organized together with the Ministries of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection, Social Affairs, and Communication and Information as well as the Commission on Child Protection.

So far, Indonesia – a nation of almost 240 million people with a third of them being younger than 18 years - has no national data on violence against children. The Government with support from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and UNICEF is undertaking a national survey on the prevalence of physical, emotional and sexual violence against boys and girls in 25 of the 33 provinces. Results and recommendations will be published next year.