Children’s mental health is often overlooked, especially with challenges such as drug abuse and the rising cost of living; both of which significantly impact children’s emotional and psychological well-being.
Save the Children Fiji’s Chief Executive Officer, Shairana Ali highlighted this to fijivillage News while giving her message on World Children’s Day.
Ali is calling for quality mental health support services where services available to children are child-friendly and awareness resources are available for both children and their families.
She says there has been progress made in Fiji in areas like education, health and child protection, however, there is a long way to go, and there are challenging situations that hinder progress in those areas.
The CEO says everyone is aware of the impact of hard drugs and how vulnerable children are to becoming users while the HIV rates are also increasing in the youth category.
She further says child protection for them is a critical issue, despite the efforts that have been made to combat child abuse, exploitation of children and neglect cases that have come up.
She adds that cases of abuse and neglect are rising every year.
According to the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Protection, 68 percent of child abuse in the country were child neglect, physical abuse, and sexual abuse, 73 percent of the perpetrators are known to the victims and 50 percent are immediate family members.
Ali is urging children to call the Child Helpline toll-free number 1325 available 24/7 or to reach out to Save the Children Fiji on 3313178.
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