Published in El Pais, 26 December 2020.
Christmas has arrived and for children it is an important time. Regardless of their social status, children are waiting for gifts from Santa Claus or Saint Nicholas. For this reason, I found the reassuring message of the World Health Organization so important for children to keep this wish and hope despite COVID-19: Santa Claus is coming! The precise words of Maria Van Kerkhove were “I understand the concern of children because it is true that he is older and belongs to a risk group, but we have spoken with Santa Claus and we can assure all the children of the world that he is immune to COVID-19- 19 and he’s working to deliver the presents. We had a short chat with him and he’s fine. Mrs Claus is fine and they’re very busy right now, but he’s immune. Several governments have told us they will allow him to use the airspace to reach all the houses “.
What do we do as a family for the children? Numbers in Latin America indicate that not all children have the same opportunity to enjoy their life and freedom. Many were quarantined in unsafe homes because their parents or relatives were dangerous people. Throughout this quarantine and the year 2020 the number of infanticides was high. For example, in Bolivia 108 children have been sexually abused (as of June) and 52 child homicides occurred; in Ecuador 21 children have been sexually abused and 20 have been murdered by a relative. The same is happening in other countries in Latin America and the policies and strategies to avoid it are not changing to adapt to this need.
It is important to do something to avoid these types of tragedies and start giving a Christmas to children every day in terms of their gifts that include rights and protection. Laws that do not exist must be created and regulations that do not meet current needs must be changed promptly to solve what is a problem.
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