Shania Shayal Prasad 
[Photo: Pacific Child Wellbeing Summit]
Children across the Pacific are increasingly vulnerable to cyberbullying, exploitation, and mental health struggles as social media transforms their lives.
Speaking at the Pacific Child Wellbeing Summit in Suva, UNICEF Pacific Representative Jonathan Veitch warned that while digital platforms offer opportunities, the risks are escalating at an alarming rate.
Veitch stressed the urgent need to strengthen legal frameworks to protect children from violence, abuse, and neglect, ensuring their safety in an evolving digital world.
[Photo: Pacific Child Wellbeing Summit participants]
“The statistics that we’ve been discussing the last few days are somewhat alarming the levels of violence abuse and neglect of some children in the Pacific are among the highest in the world add to that the challenges of nutrition, mental health, education within a world that’s changing very rapidly due to climate and economic shifts.”
Veitch adds that a comprehensive and holistic approach to child well-being is required, along with strengthening child protection systems.
[Photo: Pacific Child Wellbeing Summit]
The three-day summit, attended by ministers, senior officials from 17 Pacific nations, and key stakeholders, concluded with a report detailing actions to tackle children’s challenges regionally and nationally.
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