The revised Law on Children’s Rights and the Law on Child Protection were adopted just before the Lunar New Year. MP S.Odontuya, leader of the parliamentary lobby to support child and family development and led the working group to develop the amendments, spoke to Unuudur Newspaper about the newly adopted changes.
It took a great amount of time to gath
er the vast amount of research on the field, and to develop the amendments to the laws on child protection and children’s rights. Now, finally, the goal has been fulfilled and the changes have been adopted. What are the main objectives of the amendments? Can you please give a brief overview of them ?
The revised versions of the law on children’s rights and law on child protection has been successfully ratified by the parliament. The law on protecting children’s rights was initially adopted in 1996, and the two new laws were created on the 20th anniversary of the first law on child rights in Mongolia, which is a special occasion. With adoption of the laws, a national system has been created to provide children’s rights throughout Mongolia. Secondly, legal arrangements have determined how to resolve issues, such as how to protect a child if it has been exposed to violence, or if its rights have been abused, and how to prevent domestic abuse. Thirdly, public awareness of children’s rights and child protection will be improved with the new laws.
Adopting a law is one issue, but enforcing it is another more complicated issue. How are you planning to provide the implementation of these new laws, as it is a common phenomenon in Mongolia that adopted laws just stay valid on paper and are not implemented properly?
I completely agree that we cannot leave behind the issue of proper enforcement of the law after adopting it. In order to implement these laws, we still have to approve around 20 relevant rules, regulations, and standards, which must be developed and planned in cooperation with affiliated ministries, the Child and Family Development Center, and governmental agencies.
We are carrying out financial estimations for what is required in implementing the laws, with the assistance of international experts. The laws can be properly implemented if 3.2 to 3.5 billion MNT is allotted annually from the state budget. This will be carried out in two phases. Financing for the implementation of these laws will be resolved in 2017 and 2018.
In regard to the innovations in the legal environment, new jobs for social workers for child and family development, as well as state childcare inspectors, are being created. We will train people appropriate for those jobs and will prepare and specialize them for the work in the field.
Child nurturing methods are controversial among Mongolians. What do the new laws say about the methods of nurturing children?
Form ancient times, Mongolians used to live with their children until their childr set up their own family. Parents teach children to be hardworking and to be united. The world has become accepting of such a family-centered nurturing method in recent years, and employing it in child development and protection policy. It is essential for children to be raised in a family environment and to live in a warm family atmosphere.
Mongolian knowledge of protecting children’s rights has increased in recent years. What do the new laws state on a citizen’s obligation to report child abuse cases to the authorities?
Thanks to social networking, Mongolians have plenty of information about child abuse, there are also opportunities to distribute information about child abuse. On Facebook or Twitter, mass attention is drawn to any negative cases, which is making them easier to report. In accordance with the new laws, a citizen who finds out about any child abuse or knows a child is in a dangerous situation must report it. The law states where and whom a citizen should go to.
What measures will be taken against people who do not fulfill their obligations and do not notify the authorities?
Laws on violations, the Criminal Code, families, and domestic abuse state clearly what obligations a citizen holds in the case of a violation of children’s rights.
Under the new laws, governors at all levels bear the responsibly of providing an abused child with temporary custody placement, protecting a child’s rights. For instance, a governor should take children under protection if a child has alcoholic parents, or if a child is on probation or has been released from detention, or in the case of disastrous conditions.
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