UNICEF and the Ministry of Social Affairs Distribute Recreational Kits to LKSA

JAKARTA (June 22nd 2020) - The Ministry of Social Affairs, through the Directorate of Child Rehabilitation and UNICEF Indonesia, has distributed recreational kits packages to the Child Social Welfare Institution (LKSA). A total of 12 LKSAs were present at the Handayani Children Center to receive the assistance package that was handed over directly by the Director of Child Social Rehabilitation Kanya Eka Santi and UNICEF Indonesia's Chief of Child Protection Amanda Bissex.

UNICEF handed over 800 packages of recreational kits worth 1.72 billion Rupiah which will be distributed by 8 centers and workshops under the Directorate General of Social Rehabilitation to LKSA Partners spread throughout Indonesia.

In her statement, Amanda said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, children experienced stress due to changes in habits. Even so, Amanda praised the children because they had high resilience to face the pressure caused by the pandemic.

"Because of the current situation, we are very happy to be able to provide recreational kits for children. We hope they can use it with great joy,” she said.

On the same occasion, Amanda also appreciated the Ministry of Social Affairs’ steps in responding to children in the COVID-19 condition. "I am very impressed with how the Ministry of Social Affairs, Service Unit of Social Worker, and LKSA deal with children affected by COVID-19. Social Worker in the field reacted quickly in meeting children's needs," explained by Amanda.

Furthermore, Amanda emphasized that UNICEF will continue to work with the Ministry of Social Affairs to find out what can be helped in supporting the work of the Ministry of Social Affairs in dealing with child problems.

Meanwhile, the Directorate of Child Rehabilitation, Kanya Eka Santi, stated that the Ministry of Social Affairs had made a map of the red zone for the distribution of COVID-19 specifically for children. Kanya also expressed her gratitude to UNICEF for their support so far in the efforts of child protection.

“Good collaboration between UNICEF and the Ministry of Social Affairs has been established for a long time. We have UNICEF's support in making PHBS (Clean and Healthy Life Behavior) guidelines that we have printed and distributed. In handling COVID-19, UNICEF is also helping to develop a social worker module in the field," said Kanya.

According to Kanya, there is an ethical dilemma when the social workers are in the field. "For example, when going to the field there was a case, Social Worker had brought masks, while children did not wear masks. This becomes a dilemma when in the field,"  Kanya explained as an example.

Even so, the Social Worker still has to respond to cases because a sprawl child needs help. Kanya claims that violence against children has not stopped despite the pandemic. This claim is based on case reports that came from the Social Worker during the pandemic.

For this reason, this aid package is like a breath of fresh air in an effort to handle cases. This aid package can be used when doing therapy such as play and art therapy to children to reduce trauma or saturation of child.

This activity also attended by the Chairman and Secretary General of the Indonesian Child Protection Agency (LPAI), Seto Mulyadi and Heni Hermanoe who witnessed the handover of the aid packages to the LKSAs who were present. Both of them advised LKSA to use this assistance properly so that the children would be entertained.

Apart from that, on this occasion also delivered the operational assistance worth 50 million Rupiah from the Directorate of Child Social Rehabilitation to LPAI.