THIRD COMMITTEE COMPLETES CONSIDERATION OF RIGHTS OF CHILDREN QUESTION AND ACTIVITIES OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLE'S DECADE
Press Release
GA/SHC/3330
THIRD COMMITTEE COMPLETES CONSIDERATION OF RIGHTS OF CHILDREN QUESTION AND ACTIVITIES OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLE'S DECADE
19951122 "Too many children work too many hours", David Freedman, the representative of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) this afternoon, as it completed consideration of the promotion and protection of the rights of children as well as the programme of activities for the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People. The ILO had estimated that in 1990, 78.5 million children, between the ages of 5 and 14, were economically active.Sri Lanka's representative said he was deeply troubled by the secessionist armed group whose militants had descended to conscripting children as young as 10 years to wage war and even ordering them on suicide missions.
The war in his country, the representative of Lebanon said, had had harmful effects on children, including negative psychological impact which influenced their natural growth and social relations as well as their values.
The representative of Guinea said that the measures that had to be implemented through structural adjustments to help alleviate the economic crisis the African countries had suffered during the 1980s had had negative repercussions on children. He called on the international community to pay attention to the plight of the African children.
The representative of the Russian Federation called for a United Nations forum of indigenous people and hoped they would draw up a document containing their most pressing questions.
The Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. on Friday, 24 November, to begin its consideration of human rights questions.
Committee Work Programme
The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) met this afternoon to complete its consideration of the question of promoting and protecting the rights of children, as well as the programme of activities of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People.
Before the Committee are the following reports by the Secretary-General: the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (document A/50/456); a study on the impact on children of armed conflicts (document A/50/537); on measures taken to alleviate the situation of children in armed conflicts (document A/50/672); a final report on a comprehensive programme of action for the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People (document A/50/511); another one on the progress made at the national, regional and international levels in accomplishing the objectives of that International Decade (document A/50/565). (For detailed information on those reports, see Press Release GA/SHC/3325 of 17 November.)
Statements Made
ANDREI NIKIFOROV (Russian Federation) said the United Nations needed to play a central role in the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People. His Government had established a special organ to take care of the interests of the indigenous people of Siberia, the far east of the country, and of aboriginal organizations. He supported the establishment of a United Nations forum of indigenous people. He hoped they would draw up a document continuing their most pressing questions relating to the forum.
ISSA TRAORE (Guinea) said seven children were born every two seconds worldwide. Five of those seven lived in precarious conditions, deprived of the most essential services such as food, health and education. It was time for the world to put into effect what had been discussed at the World Summit for Children in 1990. Investment in the physical, mental and emotional well- being of children was essential.
During the 1980s the African continent had suffered a great economic crisis, which had brought political and social upheavals, and corrective measures had had to be implemented through structural adjustments; but those had negative repercussions, especially on children. For example, many children had to leave home to work in the informal economy. He called for the international community to give attention to the plight of the African children.
HASSAN KASSEM NAJEM (Lebanon) said that with the end of the war in his country in 1990, problems had emerged, particularly those affecting children. The war had had a harmful effect on the children, including negative psychological impact which influenced their natural growth and social
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relations, as well as their values. The children faced such plights as poverty, evacuation from home, water pollution, degradation of the environment, and destruction of schools. They needed special care and a sound social environment to overcome those problems.
He said that the Government had established a Ministry of Social Affairs to enable the Lebanese solve their social problems. It had also signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child and was following that up with practical steps. A body had been set up to follow-up the ratification of the Convention, and the Government was working to make the country's laws conform to the Convention.
He praised the role of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in assisting Lebanon to protect the rights of the child. Education for peace programmes had been executed by the Lebanese Government with the support of UNICEF. Lebanon had resolved to promote and protect the rights of the child while trying to ensure the safety of the country and its citizens.
WIJESIRI HETTIARACHCHI (Sri Lanka) said that his country had taken measures to ensure that the practices of child prostitution and child pornography were prevented and eventually eradicated. A task force at the national level had been active in combating child prostitution, and new legislation had been passed in August strengthening punishment for rape, prostitution and other related offenses covered in that legislation.
Sri Lanka was deeply troubled by the problem of children affected by armed conflict, he continued. In Sri Lanka, a secessionist armed group had been engaged in violent and terrorist acts against successive popularly elected governments. Militants who claimed to represent an ethnic minority had descended to conscripting children as young as 10 years to wage war and even ordering them on suicide missions.
His country supported the addition of an optional protocol to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child to prohibit the recruitment of children under 18 years of age into armed forces or armed groups and their involuntary involvement in hostilities.
DAVID FREEDMAN, representative of the International Labour Organization (ILO) said that at its creation in 1919, the ILO took a definite stand against child labour by adopting a Convention that prohibited the work of children under the age of 14 in industrial establishments. In the ensuing years, nine sectoral conventions on the minimum age of admission to employment were adopted.
The ILO estimated for 1990 that the number of economically active children between the ages of 5 and 14 was 78.5 million but the actual numbers may far exceed these estimates, he said. A much worse picture emerged when
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the conditions under which children worked were examined. "Too many children work too many hours", he said. That deprived them of the ability to benefit from education and other skills on which future productive employment increasingly depended. At the same time, there was evidence that 50 to 70 per cent of child workers combined work and school. "But fatigue can negatively affect education, in addition to being a major cause of accidents", he added.
The children were also exposed to physical hazards associated with dangerous occupations, and some occupations could cause serious psychological and social adjustment problems to children, he went on. The root causes of poverty had to be addressed as part of an overall solution to child labour. Each country should design a national plan of action that prevented child labour and provided interim measures that protected working children.
In relation to the question of the Decade of Indigenous People, he said the ILO had adopted the only international legal instrument addressing the question of living and working conditions of indigenous and tribal peoples.
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