KUALA LUMPUR: Four per cent of Malaysian children aged 6 to 12 are not in school, while some 7,000 children under 5 continue to die each year from preventable and treatable diseases.

Cases of violence and abuse remain hidden behind closed doors.

These are blots on the country as Malaysia joins the world to celebrate Universal Children's Day today.

To be sure, child welfare in Malaysia has come a long way.

United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) representative to Malaysia Youssouf Oomar commended the country's efforts in upholding the nation's promise to children, creating impressive achievements in child survival, health, education and development.
However, the most vulnerable children still fall through the gaps.

Youssouf said many countries, especially middle-income countries like Malaysia, had experienced an increasing emphasis on the realisation of a full package of child rights that extended way beyond the basic rights to survival.

He said Unicef had been working with the Malaysian government for the past 54 years to bring national legislation, policy and practices into accordance with the standards in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Efforts are being made to ensure that children with disabilities can claim equal rights with all other children.

"A child with disabilities is still a child with possibilities and potential, with unique abilities that embody the promise of our future."

Malaysia signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on April 8.

Yet, more has to be done. Conscious efforts have to be made to put children in the spotlight so that their needs and rights are not forgotten in national laws and policies.

Universal Children's Day was established on Nov 20, 1989 to mark the day which the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989.