President of Mongolia Battulga Khaltmaa, yesterday, received the authorities and representatives of some government bodies to address child safety and exhort government bodies to fight crimes against children. In 2017, 1,752 children became victims of 1,692 crimes, whereas, in the first six months of 2018, the number of child victims increased by 40 percent against the same period of the previous year. Last year, 127 children lost their lives and 187 children became victims of sexual violence, with the age of the victims getting increasingly younger. The President previously outlined urgent measures to be taken by the government organizations responsible for child safety comprising six tasks during the plenary session of the Parliament on June 28. Accordingly, several open discussions were organized and the National Police Agency established a Division for Prevention of Crimes Against Children; however, “the statistical figures on child accidents caused by the negligence of adults and violence against children have not reduced,” the President Battulga alerted. He added, “I called for taking measures, such as formulating and adopting child protection law and standards, issuing an implementation guideline, and conducting inspection at schools, kindergartens, playgrounds and all other child-involving environments.

Of the 11 organizations that received the instructions, eight have sent their reports. I have read each of these reports, and there is not a single report that can satisfy or assure me that viable actions have been taken.” According to the President, the specialized bodies inspected 44 out of 798 schools (18 percent) in the country and 60 out of 1,416 kindergartens (23.6 percent). “The reports does not contain the result of inspection in rural schools and kindergartens. As such, these reports only contain information on the violations that were revealed, and there is no account of how these violations were settled and how the corrections were examined in person. I am sure everyone understands that our desired goal is not integrating data, issuing written orders, and imposing fine,” warned Mr. President. The meeting proceeded with questions directed to the government officials regarding information in the said reports. For instance, President Battulga addressed certain issues, including safety of electrical wires and cables, playgrounds and school environment, nutritional value of food provided to preschoolers, child protection standards, risk assessment of day nurseries, lack of professional teachers and educators, and the difference in the working hours of government organizations and kindergartens. After that, the President instructed the government organizations to work together in order to effectively solve the existing problems. The President mentioned the exemplary actions of the National Police Agency, thanks to which child crimes decreased by 30.2 percent, expressing his willingness to cooperate on such preventive measures. After discussing the preparations for the new academic year, the President called a meeting to review the results next month.

Published Date:2018-08-31