The Philippine Play Coalition is inviting families and organizations to join National Play Advocacy Week (NPAW) 2020 from Nov. 16 to 22.
NPAW is celebrated every third week of November as part of the National Children’s Month and is dedicated to highlighting the right of every child to play and its importance to their holistic wellbeing.
The event kicks off with an online town hall meeting on Nov. 16, where children and their families are encouraged to express their concerns relevant to play especially in the time where we face not only a virus outbreak but also other disasters like the Typhoon Rolly, which recently struck most parts of the country and wreaked havoc in the Bicol region.
The NPAW 2020 theme, “Making play happen: Reimagining play in the time of crisis” is aligned with the National Children’s Month theme, “Sama-samang itaguyod ang karapatan ng bata sa panahon ng pandemya.”
The initiative is led and organized by the Philippine Play Coalition (PPC), a network of child-focused organizations, Council for the Welfare of Children, Unilab Foundation, World Vision, Tukod Foundation, Educo Philippines, Unang Hakbang Foundation, and Kythe Foundation.
PPC is also supported by the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the National Youth Commission.
In the face of the Covid-19 pandemic and other natural disasters, play is very important to a child’s natural means of expression and coping that not only provides them rest and leisure, but is also fundamental in their holistic development and wellbeing.
Article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child says every child has the right to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child, and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.
Unfortunately, play is considered as laru-laro lang in many households and communities – a mindset that causes most Filipino families to view it as trivial, useless, and unimportant. Play tends to be one of the most neglected rights of a child in the country.
NPAW 2020 encourages interested parties to take play initiatives that can be coursed through its partnership platform at bit.ly/NPAW2020Partners.
An NPAW 2020 Partner’s Toolkit can also be downloaded at bit.ly/NPAW2020Toolkit. The toolkit serves as a guideline in conducting play activities at home or through online platforms.
Visit www.facebook.com/PhilippinePlayCoalition for more details. – Press release
