1 June, World Children’s Day.
Yesterday, we spoke once again about just how precious children are.
We said they are our future.
Yet, I think this year we need to ask a slightly more difficult question:
What does it really mean to protect children?
The Minister for Labour and Social Security shared some important figures in Parliament.
He revealed that, in 2025, interventions were carried out for 312 children on suspicion of abuse, and home visits were conducted in relation to these children.
312 children.
Let’s pause for a moment and reflect on this figure. And these are only the children the system has been able to identify. Then there are those who remain unseen.
Those who cannot speak out.
Those who are afraid.
Children whom no one has noticed.
This is precisely why the issue of children’s rights is not merely a matter of loving children.
It is a matter of being able to protect children and empower them by ensuring their rights are upheld.
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For years, we have been discussing child abuse, children’s mental health, the right to education, children drawn into crime, and the shortcomings of the child protection system. And we are right to do so. Because even today, we have still not managed to establish a Child Monitoring Centre. We have serious shortcomings in the field of children’s mental health. It is impossible to take effective action with laws dating back to the 1930s.
Social services have not been able to specialise to the extent required in a field such as child protection, which demands specific expertise. The system that is supposed to protect children often only steps in after an incident has occurred and attempts to proceed by trial and error.
Yet experts working in the field of children’s rights around the world are now drawing attention to a different issue. We need to establish an institutional framework capable of conducting risk assessments regarding issues affecting children, preventing violations, intervening urgently where necessary, and monitoring the process following any harm. This is not a burden that a single department can bear alone. There is a need for a child protection mechanism that operates through consultation and puts inter-agency cooperation into practice.
***
The threats facing children do not stem from a single issue.
Poverty, disengagement from education, mental health issues, violence, neglect, abuse, bullying and social exclusion are all interlinked.
A child’s disengagement from school exacerbates another problem.
Poverty increases another risk.
A child who does not receive support faces further dangers.
That is why, globally, the focus is no longer on individual problems but on the child’s holistic well-being. Yet, beyond this, there is a new reality.
Children’s lives no longer unfold solely on the streets, at school or at home.
They are also growing up in the digital world.
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As UNICEF has highlighted, approximately one-third of internet users worldwide are children. Children are encountering digital systems, social media platforms and artificial intelligence applications at increasingly younger ages.
This situation raises new questions.
A child’s personal data can easily be disclosed or shared. It is not difficult to imagine the consequences should this data fall into the wrong hands. Another issue is platforms that normalise violence and abuse.
For this reason, the relationship between children’s rights and cyber security is now being discussed more widely around the world. The SafeChild initiative is one of the outcomes of this search for solutions.
Because the issue is not just about technology. It is about children’s rights.
***
Today, protecting children does not simply mean putting a lock on the door.
It means establishing a robust child protection system capable of anticipating risks.
It means setting up a Child Monitoring Centre.
It means strengthening children’s mental health services.
It means ensuring specialisation in social services.
And it also means protecting children’s data, privacy and digital security.
Source: THE STORY TOLD BY 312 CHILDREN
