Adults should show more responsibility towards children - PM

Prime Minister D M Jayaratne in a message to mark World Children’s Day said he firmly believed that a nation’s existence and its future depend on the candid smile of its children. The elders should, therefore, look after children with more attention.

Children deserve to receive proper care and love of the elders, he said. The Prime Minister said the government is committed to creating a climate where children are safe and protected in Sri Lanka.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa set up the Child Development Ministry. The government alone cannot assure the protection of children. It is the duty of parents, elders and the entire society to ensure children’s protection, he said.

“Child abuse and harassment will never end until society agrees to assume children as ours instead of contemplating the phenomenon of my child and our child. On this International Children’s Day, we should be determined to prevent all possible means of physical and emotional harassment, abuse, suffering and negligence at the hands of any offender.

We should pledge to give our children a safe and protective existence in this day, rather than celebrating this day with unnecessary fanfare,” the Prime Minister said.