The Sydney branch of Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL) held a commemorative event for Australia’s Children’s Week with the theme of “How we can Change the Narrative of COVID-19 for our Children” on 23 October. Heads of different organizations who share the same interest in peace and education for children attended this event.
The Australian government recently commemorated the 2020 and 2021 Australian Children’s Week by adopting the theme “children have the right to choose their friends and safely connect with others”, which is based on Article 15 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
What is most noteworthy is how the pandemic, caused by COVID-19, affected students mentally and emotionally. Due to COVID-19, most schools transitioned to virtual methods and this heavily impacted students’ educational achievements. Students who should be at school learning how to communicate and socialize with each other are in an environment where they have to receive education non face-to-face.
HWPL’s Sydney branch also commemorated this week by inviting VIPs in educational fields who talked about the impact of COVID-19 on students and introduced how peace education is necessary for students.
Those who attended the event agreed that it was essential to provide peace education so that children would have the necessary character to live with others while experiencing COVID-19.
Abraham Quadan, the board member of Cambodia Centra for Mediation, presented, “It is clear from Ayman’s presentation that the pandemic has brought us together, whilst exposing what we also need to do more to prioritize our children so we can teach children to have essential skills, such as having empathy and understanding for one another.”
Arezo Zoe Safi, the principal lawyer of Safi Legal, spoke on the subject of setting priorities to smoothly transition children from the pandemic situation into their daily lives. She said during COVID-19, refugee children were not given the basic essential education such as an online study environment. Safi further argued the urgency of providing a short and long term policy that prioritizes in protecting the children. She also mentioned that necessary measures should be reinforced so children can be guaranteed equal education rights regardless of their environment.
HWPL’s Sydney branch in Australia will work with VIPs in various educational fields to provide many educational opportunities so strength can be built to guarantee the safety of the children and create a safe world.