It was a great pleasure to report on the field trip organized by the UNICEF-IPU partnership. We would like to thank UNICEF for the excellent organization of the visit to Lombok and applaud the partnership between the IPU and UNICEF.

The field visit commenced at a community-based health post, where we viewed a maternal and children's health care and nutrition programme conducted by community volunteers. As malnutrition is a significant problem in many areas the delegates were impressed with the holistic approach to maternal nutrition and the immunization programme conducted at the health centre.

Our interaction with the children at an elementary school saw the efforts of the government and education system in educating children on the Convention on the Rights of the Child and corporal punishment. It was interesting to observe the drawings of the children that mainly consisted of domestic violence and parent-to-child violence. Many of the MPs believed that parents need more education on the rights of children and that this should be universal.

The delegation attended a maternity hut, where we spoke with a mother who had just one hour before given birth to a tiny baby girl. The problem of maternal mortality is a huge challenge for Indonesia. This was demonstrated in our discussion with the mother of the newborn baby girl, when she told us this was her sixth baby, but three had died at various ages of infancy.

An additional challenge is female genital mutilation (FGM) or circumcision. Even though the Indonesian Government has issued a circular advising Health Commissions not to carry out this procedure it is still very widely practised. The mother of the newborn girl told us that she would have her baby circumcised. It should be recognized how difficult it is for the Indonesian and Provincial Governments to provide education and information on the practice of female circumcision to a population of 200 million people on 18,000 islands. However, it reminded the delegation that there is a great need for heightened public awareness on the issue of female genital mutilation.

Another significant issue that IPU Members must recognize and act on is the registration of each child at birth. This was also highlighted at the maternity hut. Partnerships between government, provinces, UNICEF and NGOs are attempting to address registration of all births in Indonesia. However, it is a problem in many countries.

Registering a child at birth is the beginning of a child's basic rights. In many countries a child can die, be trafficked or murdered and authorities may never know because there is no official record of the child's existence. The field trip reinforced the fact that countries must implement affordable registration of all births as a child's basic right. The absence of registration also presents a problem that the IPU deals with regularly, namely, statelessness.

The role of men in maternal and neonatal care was also demonstrated by the "OJEK" drivers who provide outreach support to mothers and families. The working lunch with the Provincial Secretary representing the Governor of Lombok was informative and the dialogue with the provincial representatives was very frank and open. The Provincial Secretary advised us of the many issues confronting them such as a life expectancy of 58 years, but most important were the issues concerning the protection of children against trafficking and many violations of children's rights.

The delegation split into two groups and from reports of the group that went to the Provincial Police Office, I can say that we were impressed with the training programme undertaken by police in order to develop the necessary skills to deal with victims of violence and abuse. In addition, the delegation engaged in extensive dialogue with representatives of the women's and children's desk, who provide a specific referral service for different kinds of abuse issues.

I took part in the Lombok Child Protection body or NTB visit, where we discussed many things with youth members of the MATARAM Children's Council. These young people aged between 15 and17 were an inspiration through their articulate delivery of issues confronting children on Lombok. IPU delegates, as adults and experts, continuously discuss children's issues but who is better to discuss these issues than our nation's youth!

I advocate that we introduce a formal procedure at each Assembly in a host country, where we interact with a panel of representative youth of that country, such as the MATARAM Children's Council on the island of Lombok.

The MATARAM Children's Council strives to achieve the realization of children's rights. They had drawn a map of the child's tree of the mind, body and soul. Their message was clear: "When you beat and abuse my body you are not only leaving scars and broken bones on my physical self; you are destroying my mind and soul! My broken bones and bruises may heal but my mind and soul are lost to me forever." The plea from this youth group to the visiting parliamentarians was: "We want to be children and we want to play as children; we do not want to be afraid of being sold into slave labour or the sex industry. Let us be children. Please listen to us speak and then go back to your parliaments and be the voice of the children in your parliaments."

Finally, on behalf of the delegates who participated in the field trip, we thank the IPU and UNICEF for the opportunity to be involved and we recommend that more delegates be able to have such meaningful exposure to the many issues of our host countries. We congratulate UNICEF for its wonderful work, particularly in the area of child protection.

	Make schools a violence-free space Apanel discussion on Making schools safe for children was held during the 116th Assembly of the IPU at the behest of women parliamentarians. Participants recalled that millions of children spent more time in the care of adults in educational settings than anywhere else outside their homes and that violence in schools may be physical or psychological. Organized by the IPU and UNICEF, the panel was attended by legislators and keynote speakers included actress and UNICEF spokesperson, Ms. Sarah Jones, Chilean Senator Juan Pablo Letelier, the Deputy Speaker of the South African National Assembly, Ms. Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde, the Children’s Commissioner of New Zealand, Dr. Cindy Kiro, and Senior Director, Microsoft Asia Pacific, Ms. Katharine Bostick. The panel was chaired by Ms. Angelina Sondakh, member of parliament of Indonesia. The participants recalled that violence at the hands of teachers and other school staff includes corporal punishment and other cruel and humiliating forms of punishment or treatment, sexual abuse, sexual harassment and bullying. They added that forms of violence perpetrated by children include bullying, sexual abuse, schoolyard fighting, gang violence and armed assault. The panel addressed the subject of violence at school from several angles, emphasizing the key role of parents, educators, lawmakers and the media in preventing it. Violence against children is a universal phenomenon, irrespective of social class, level of development, wealth, race, culture, etc. It does not originate in schools, but rather reflects the dynamics within the home and within society at large. The participants also pointed out the need to educate and empower families and children, as children are often regarded as objects and not the subjects of rights. Parliamentarians have a key role to play as there is a need for strong legislation and effective implementation. But legislation is not enough. Existing laws must be implemented and political determination and appropriate training of teachers are crucial to implementation. There is also a long-term need to change attitudes and behaviour and greater accountability is required by the media, which often creates and perpetuates a culture of violence and reinforces negative stereotypes, such as those related to gender, which may indirectly encourage violence. Last but not least, technology constitutes a new vector of violence against children. See also Editorial.