GOVERNMENTS MUST SHOW POLITICAL WILL TO ERADICATE CHILD LABOUR, THIRD COMMITTEE IS TOLD
Press Release
GA/SHC/3384
GOVERNMENTS MUST SHOW POLITICAL WILL TO ERADICATE CHILD LABOUR, THIRD COMMITTEE IS TOLD
19961111 Cooperation with Employers' and Workers' Groups Needed, Says Representative of International Labour OrganizationGovernments must show political will and cooperate with employers' and workers' organizations, as well as with the media and universities, to eradicate child labour, according to a representative of the International Labour Organization (ILO) who addressed the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) this afternoon as it continued its general debate on the promotion and protection of the rights of children.
He said the objective of the ILO's International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour was to eliminate child labour by changing social attitudes and strengthening the capacity of Governments to implement reform policies in such crucial fields as education and the labour market. The ILO was working towards the adoption of a new international instrument aimed at banning the most intolerable forms of labour, such as work by children in slave-like conditions, drug trafficking, or pornography, and work which threatened their safety or health, or prevented them from attending school.
The representative of Indonesia said her Government was undertaking strong measures to alleviate poverty which often motivated children to seek employment. In collaboration with the ILO and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the Government conducted a workshop on child labour to ratify the ILO's minimum age for employment. It had also established a national focal point to monitor and coordinate national activities in the field, she added.
The representative of Ireland, speaking on behalf of the European Union and associated countries, said States must translate their commitment to the elimination of child labour into concrete action. He urged them to set specific target dates to eliminate of all forms of child labour that were contrary to accepted international standards, and to enforce existing laws.
Desmond Tutu, Archbishop emeritus of South Africa, said the tragedy of modern times was that too many children could no longer play because of armed
conflict. Obscenely, they had been used as soldiers in armed conflict. Children were also the victims of ethnic strife in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Rwanda, Burundi, Northern Ireland, Sudan, Liberia and Angola. He appealed to the international community to give children the right to life and a home.
Statements were also made by Namibia, Japan, Ghana, Belgium, Mexico, Viet Nam, South Africa, Costa Rica, speaking on behalf of the Central American Countries, Israel, Togo, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates and Malta. Representatives from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies also addressed the Committee.
The representative of Singapore spoke in exercise of right of reply.
The Committee will meet again at 10 a.m., Tuesday 12 November, to continue its consideration of the promotion and protection of the rights of children.
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Committee Work Programme
The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) met this afternoon to continue its examination of the promotion and protection of the rights of children. It will consider the report of the Committee on the Rights of the Child; two reports by the Secretary General; a note by the Secretary-General transmitting the report of the Special Rapporteur of the Committee on Human Rights on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. (For background on the report of the Secretary-General's expert on the impact of armed conflict on children, see Press Release GA/SHC/3382 of 8 November 1996.)
According to the report of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on its sixth through eleventh sessions (document A/51/41), that body, established by the Convention on the Rights of the Child to Monitor its Implementation by States parties, considered the initial reports of Argentina, Belgium, Burkina Faso, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Holy See, Honduras, Iceland, Indonesia, Italy, Jamaica, Jordan, Madagascar, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Norway, Pakistan, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Senegal, Spain, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Yemen and Yugoslavia. The report suggests policy reforms to be undertaken by those 36 States parties to the 1990 Convention.
The Committee adopted several conclusions and recommendations at its sixth to eleventh sessions. In a conclusion on children in armed conflicts, adopted during its sixth session, the Committee decided to prepare comments on the issue, at the invitation of the Secretary-General, and submit them for consideration by the working group. It would also make available to the working group the relevant chapters of its reports on the issue.
Also during the sixth session, the Committee approved a recommendation on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, in which it decided to submit, in light of the Secretary-General's invitation and discussions on the "economic exploitation of children", its comments on guidelines for a possible draft optional protocol for consideration by the working group. It stressed that the child affected by sale, prostitution and pornography should be considered mainly as a victim and that all measures adopted should ensure full respect for his or her human dignity, as well as special protection and support within the family and society.
During its eighth session, the Committee approved a recommendation on the participation and contribution of the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995). It decided to transmit the content of the general discussion on the girl child, to the secretariat of the Fourth World Conference on Women.
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It also requested that the Committee be clearly considered as an essential mechanism within the framework of the international machinery that would be
entrusted with the task of monitoring and periodically reviewing the implementation of the Conference's Platform for Action.
The Secretary-General's report on the status of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (document A/51/424) says that as of 15 August 1996, it had been ratified or acceded to by 187 States. In addition, two States had signed the Convention. The list of States that have signed, ratified or acceded to the Convention, as well as the dates of their signature, ratification or accession, is contained in the annex to the report.
The report states that the Commission on Human Rights, at its fifty- second session in April 1996, adopted a resolution in which it took note with appreciation of the constructive role of the Committee on the Rights of the Child in creating awareness of the principles and provisions of the Convention and in providing recommendations to States parties on its implementation. It also requested United Nations bodies and organs and encouraged States parties, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, the media and the community at large to intensify their efforts to disseminate information on the Convention, promote understanding of it and assist States parties in its implementation.
At its the fifth meeting, held at Headquarters on 21 February 1995, the State parties to the Convention elected five members of the Committee to replace those whose terms were due to expire. The experts who were elected or re-elected for 1995-1999 represent Barbados, Burkina Faso, Israel, Russian Federation and Sweden.
Also before the Committee is the report of the Secretary-General on exploitation of child labour (document A/51/492). General Assembly resolution 50/153 of 21 December 1995, on the rights of the child, calls on Governments to take legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to ensure children are protected from economic exploitation, particularly from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous to or interfere with their education, or to be harmful to their health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.
According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the extent of child labour was hard to estimate, since necessary statistics are not available. However, surveys from several countries and available statistics indicate that there are tens or even hundreds of millions of children working throughout the world. The lack of reliable and comparable data also makes it impossible to assess the trend of child labour. According to some experts, the proportion of working children has increased in various parts of the world in the last 15 years because of factors encouraging the supply of child
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labour.
Child labour is also a problem in the terms of the risks and abuse to which children are exposed at work, the report states. First, many children start work at a very early age, often as young as 5 or 6 years old. Second, work is often a permanent activity, taking up many hours each day, and therefore difficult to reconcile with school attendance. Third, many children work under conditions that seriously impair their physical and/or emotional development. In recent years, there have been regular denunciations of the bonded labour to which millions of children are subject, trafficking in children from rural areas or neighbouring countries for employment or prostitution in cities and the severe ill-treatment of street children. The United Nations and specialized agencies and non-governmental organizations have devoted considerable time and energy in combating all forms of exploitation of children.
The reporting system of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, other relevant United Nations organs and agencies and other competent bodies can help identify gaps and shortcomings in the realization of the rights of the child and mobilize international cooperation to provide technical advice or assistance. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) also supports a number of country-specific programmes which address child labour, including education, health, street children, legislative review and programmes addressing the commercial sexual exploitation of children.
The report concludes that efforts are still needed to improve cooperation and coordination among Governments, national non-governmental bodies and specialized agencies which carry out projects. The complexity of the problem requires clear political commitment, willingness and ability to take measures necessary for a dramatic reduction and the eventual elimination of the incidence of exploitative child labour. Governments should be mobilized and initiatives should closely involve the municipal level.
On the international level, the High Commissioner for Human Rights has developed a plan of action to strengthen substantive support for the work of the Committee on the Rights of the Child and to provide whatever resources may be necessary for the implementation of its recommendations. The High Commissioner also supports international efforts to make school education available to all children to provide them with an alternative to exploitative labour, including prostitution.
The report by the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (document A/51/456) said the World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (Stockholm Congress) held at Stockholm from 27 to 31 August 1996 raised international awareness about the alarming proportions of child abuse all over the world. It clearly
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established that there is hardly any region, country, city or village where child abuse does not occur. There are many causes for the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, including economic needs, gender bias and other forms of discrimination based on race, caste or class, population pressures, urban migration, and the erosion of family structures.
The commercial sexual exploitation of children is global in nature and usually invisible. Child prostitutes are hidden from public scrutiny, either physically or through the falsification of identification papers. The fear of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, which has increased the demand for younger sexual partners and the marked preference for children over adults, has pushed up their value. As the sex market has changed, the traditional pimp and the brothel "Madam" are no longer the only ones supplying child prostitutes. Leaders and members of organized crime, traffickers, middle persons, tour organizers, corrupt administration officials, and parents and caretakers are also involved. Child-sex clients are primarily paedophiles, preferential child sex abusers or regular customers, local prostitute users, tourists, travelling businessmen, migrant foreign workers, military personnel, and public workers in isolated places.
Information about the profiles of both child victims and sex exploiters is a key element in forming policies and plans of action, raising public awareness, and changing attitudes, the report says. Children are vulnerable because they come from marginalized or broken families, are victims of abuse or are children of women involved in the sex industry. Street children are easy targets because of peer pressure or the need to survive. Children in orphanages are often subject to sexual abuse by adults in positions of trust or authority and become easy targets for abusers under a fiction of consent.
The report stresses that adult and child prostitution are two very different issues. States may legalize adult prostitution, but there should be no ambivalence in declaring the illegality and immorality of the commercial sexual exploitation of children. Nor should there be any distinction between children who are perceived to enter prostitution voluntarily, and those who are forced, deceived or misled. Both national and international strategies and programmes must be coherent and integrate children's concerns. For example, the elimination of child labour, without providing viable alternatives may drive children into the much more hazardous world of commercial sex. Dealing with child pornography poses particular problems. There is no uniform definition of pornography and legislation is often obsolete. Laws must be upgraded to deal with modern technology. Home video equipment and computer technology has revolutionized international production and distribution and computer-generated pornography poses formidable challenges for courts and law enforcement officials.
In the report, recommendations for national action cover law enforcement and criminal procedures in the courts. Special police officers should handle
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cases involving children and there should be regular training programmes to sensitize and motivate police to intervene effectively. A victim-centred approach should be adopted in investigations. Powerful information campaigns to create the groundswell of popular indignation can promote reform when there is perceived police corruption or inefficiency. The report also suggests the use of mobile surveillance units to monitor places where children are at greater risk and more effective implementation of child protection laws. Law enforcement officers should coordinate their work with non-governmental organizations and encourage active community participation in the law enforcement process. In criminal proceedings, the rights and interests of children should be safeguarded, while respecting the rights of the accused, the report says and recommends measures to protect the identity of children.
According to the report, prosecution of international crimes against children is extremely difficult, expensive and time-consuming. National concerns and priorities may be dissimilar and differences in language and legal systems further complicate the issue. Regional and worldwide cooperation is indispensable, but there no single magic formula for all countries. For example, States with common borders need to coordinate their efforts more closely to prevent trafficking in children.
Cooperative arrangements could include synchronization of laws, penalties, and rules of procedure, especially in evidence-taking; prosecution of abusers either in the country where the offence took place or in the country of the offender; negotiation and application of multilateral conventions in regions with similar political, legal and social systems; and quick and accurate exchange of information between law enforcement agencies and the judiciary to ensure the thorough investigation, prosecution and conviction of perpetrators and the protection of the child victims.
National police should work closely with INTERPOL and immigration authorities to curb trafficking and related activities and a central registry for missing children should be set up on both a national and a regional basis to help identify and trace child victims. Exchange of paedophile lists would help to prevent repeat offenses. Police, customs and postal officials should coordinate their efforts more closely to curb the circulation of pornographic materials.
A letter from Sweden (document A/51/385), transmits the text of a declaration and an agenda for action adopted by the World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, held from 27 to 31 August in Stockholm, Sweden. The Congress was sponsored by Sweden, UNICEF, the non- governmental organizations End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism and Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child and was attended by representatives from 122 countries and other United Nations agencies.
The agenda calls on States to develop national programmes to reduce, by
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the year 2000, the number of children susceptible to commercial exploitation; create data bases on vulnerable children and their exploiters; foster Government and non-government cooperation on measures against the commercial sexual exploitation of children and mobilize families and communities to protect them. Preventive action should include free and compulsory primary education and adequate health services; the mobilization of businesses, including the tourist industry, against the use of networks and establishments for the sexual exploitation of children, as well as national laws to establish the criminal responsibility of service providers, customers and intermediaries involved in child prostitution, trafficking and pornography. Recovery and reintegration programmes should ensure child victims and their families receive legal aid and medical, social and psychological counselling. Socio- medical and psychological measures as well as legal sanctions against perpetrators should be adopted.
DESMOND TUTU, Archbishop emeritus of South Africa, said the tragedy of modern times was that too many children could no longer play because of armed conflict. Obscenely, they had been used as soldiers in armed conflict. In Angola and Mozambique, he had seen the children who were casualties of war with their limbs blown away by land-mines and children bereft of a home and parents. The casualties of war were not just children. Countries, which once fed their children, had been devastated. Their children were starving, education was interrupted and homes were destroyed. Children were also the victims of ethnic strife in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Rwanda, Burundi, Northern Ireland, Sudan, Liberia and Angola. He appealed to the international community to give children the right to life and a home.
Delegates to the Committee were not just statistics, but also fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, he continued. They enjoyed a secure family life. When they returned home at night they were welcomed by joyful children. They went home to a regular meal, drank clean water, slept in a warm bed and had a hot shower. They enjoyed security which they shared with their children and their family. He appealed to the world community to become filled with a passion for peace, to become workers of peace ... "for the sake of the world and its children, and the future, and your child". War and armed conflict were dangerous for children. The world could become a safe hospitable place for children where they could play. Their rights to a home, education, affordable health care, security and laughter could be possible if "you who have children and have been children can make it so". The world must become "child friendly".
MARTIN ANDJABA (Namibia), speaking on behalf of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), said it was imperative that children's specific needs were met through immunization, zones of peace during armed conflict, adequate health care, nutrition and education. The Convention on the Rights of the Child provided the world with a non-hierarchial, holistic international framework for the promotion and protection of children's rights. Governments
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had the obligation to create an enabling environment for children to enjoy those rights. He called on all Governments to consider withdrawing their reservations on the Convention and/or Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. He also called on Governments to adopt the platform for action adopted at the first World Congress on the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (Stockholm, August 1996).
He said the mid-decade review showed there had been widespread progress in 90 countries since the World Summit for Children (New York, 1990), in immunization, combating malnutrition, increasing school enrolment and improving the quality of drinking water. Although more children had been born in the first five years of this decade, a million fewer children under the age of five, would die in 1996 compared with 1990. However, a closer examination of sub-Saharan Africa revealed very little progress in relation to the overall objectives of the decade. Norway had given $19 million in Africa for the education of girls and he hoped the donor community would follow and substantially increase the official development assistance (ODA) including contributions to United Nations operations.
The plight of girls in the sub-region demanded urgent attention, he continued. It was morally wrong that a 13-year old child was forced to stay at home from school and perform household duties while her brothers attended school. Nor was there any justification for denying girls the rights to inheritance. It was no accident that fewer girls than boys survived to adulthood. It was due to harmful practices such as female genital mutilation and son preference, which resulted in female infanticide and prenatal sex selection. Early marriage and child marriage caused irreparable physical, mental and emotional damage. The SADC was determined to eradicate those practices and had a premium on the education and health of girls.
NAGAKO SUGIMORI (Japan) said many children in all countries of the world were many living in exceptionally difficult conditions. The root causes of the problems affecting children were many -- including armed conflict, extreme poverty and government neglect -- and the task of eradicating them was enormous. It would require the efforts of Governments, non-governmental organizations and all relevant organs and bodies of the United Nations system. Therefore, his Government called upon the Governments which had not yet ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child to do so as soon as possible, because it was they who had the primary responsibility for improving the condition of children. State parties should also take measures to ensure the full and effective implementation of the Convention, since ratification in itself was insufficient for full realization of the rights of the child.
Japan was seriously concerned about the effect that armed conflict had on children, she said. The General Assembly should carefully consider the recommendations made in the report of Expert of the Secretary-General, Graca Machel, which should give new coherence and fresh impetus to the efforts
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of the international community to protect children in armed conflict. In addition, the Government also appreciated the initiative taken by the Government of Sweden, UNICEF, and various non-governmental organizations in holding the World Congress in Stockholm against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in August 1996, which helped to focus greater international attention on the issue. Careful consideration should be given to the Special Rapporteur's recommendations with respect to measures that might be adopted at the national and international levels.
JOHN D. BIGGAR (Ireland), speaking on behalf of the European Union, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Norway, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia, said it was essential to ensure full and equal access to education and ensure that the girl child could participate under equal conditions in the process of social, economic and political development. Furthermore, it was important in the context of discrimination against the girl child to respect and promote the principle set out in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, that all children had the right to express their views in all matters affecting them. The European Union called upon all States to implement the commitments of Beijing as a matter of priority to ensure the full enjoyment by the girl child of all human rights and fundamental freedoms.
The European Union urged the adoption of all necessary measures and practices to ensure that children were protected from the impact of armed conflict and endorsed unreservedly the declaration that children must have no part in warfare, he said. The Secretary-General should appoint, for a period of three years, a special representative with the aim of considering the impact of armed conflict on children, collecting information and promoting awareness, and through international cooperation in this field, promoting national and international measures to improve their situation and ensure respect for their human rights.
The status and well-being of refugee and displaced children were related to the situation of children in armed conflict, but it was also relevant in cases of natural disaster and other exceptional circumstances, he said. It was therefore critical that the rights set out in the Convention be respected as a matter of priority in situations of emergency. The European Union urged States to work closely with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) both in emergencies and in the rehabilitation phase including the question of separation of family members.
States must translate their commitment to the elimination of child labour into concrete action, he said. The European Union urged States to set specific target dates for the elimination of all forms of child labour that were contrary to accepted international standards, as well as to ensure the full enforcement of existing laws, and, where they have not yet done so, enact the legislation necessary to implement the Convention and existing standards.
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The conditions of children throughout the world were not encouraging, and the rights of the child were consistently violated. The UNICEF report on the
state of the world's children showed that despite significant progress in some fields, the situation of children worldwide remained a matter of grave concern.
ALEX REYN (Belgium) said it had been several months since the discovery of the particularly horrible death of four children had deeply shaken his country. On 20 October, Belgian people had turned out for the "White March" to demonstrate their support for the parents of the victims and to demand that authorities do everything possible to resolve the crime. The time had come for the international community to act with determination to end the sexual exploitation and abuse of children. His Government was pleased with the results of the first World Congress against the sexual exploitation of children which had introduced several initiatives to deal with people who sexually exploited children, including the elaboration of a multi-year programme to encourage the exchange of information on people responsible for such acts; the creation of an information bank to fight organized crime; and improved cooperation between the police forces of the European Union. The actions should be adopted soon by the European Council.
He outlined Belgium's laws against the sexual exploitation of children less than 16 years old, and on pornography and the sexual abuse of minors. In the last decade, numerous mechanisms and instruments had contributed to the fight against the exploitation and trafficking of children. The Convention on the Rights of Child was a solid pillar on which Governments and organizations could base their protection of children. His Government favoured the elaboration of an international instrument among States to designate penalties for the sexual exploitation of children. He hoped the working group would take into account those recommendations when elaborating the additional Protocol to the Convention on the sale, prostitution and pornography of children. He also hoped that the sex tourism would be made a criminal act. He stressed his Government's deep concern on the trafficking of especially vulnerable children, such as street children and those caught in armed conflict and forced labour.
JACK B. WILMOT (Ghana) said the Convention on the Rights of the Child served as a compass to help the international community navigate the neglected ocean of child-related issues. The Declaration of the Rights of the Child stated that "the child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection before, as well as after birth". This statement, and article 3 of the Convention which states that the best interest of the child should be a primary consideration, justified the almost universal nature of the Convention's ratification status. Therefore, his Government appealed to all States who had made reservations on ratification to remove those clauses in the best interest of children. It
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also called for full implementation of the Convention by States parties in order to achieve the purposes of the spirit and letter of the Convention.
The declaration and agenda for action of the World Congress Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in Stockholm, focused on the areas of education programmes and preventive activities, legal reform and law enforcement, recovery and rehabilitation measures, as well as advocacy, he said. The figures on the total number of girls used for commercial sexual purposes released at the Congress, as well as the reports of high incidence of HIV cases, spurred all participants to take corrective measures. These measures were not merely to satisfy public outrage, as seen in some parts of the world, but to stamp out this cruel misuse of the girl child. Ghana fully supported measures to criminalize this practice and to punish the perpetrators in the places where they committed the offenses in the name of sex tourism and in their home countries.
YANERIT MORGAN (Mexico) said after assessing the achievements toward the goals set at the Children's Summit, her Government had attached great importance to the fulfilment of the Summit's objectives. The goals of the Summit were closely linked to protection and rights of children, and for ensuring the enjoyment of the broad spectrum of rights as granted in the Convention. Therefore, Mexico hoped all countries that had not yet ratified the Convention would do so as soon as possible.
After the Summit, Mexico was enlisted in drafting two optional protocols on the situation of children who were victims of sale, pornography and prostitution, and who were in armed conflicts. The conclusion of these two protocols to the Convention would hopefully protect millions of children as well as the children who were the victims of these grave problems. Her Government commended the important work contributed by the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and the Secretary-General's expert on children in armed conflicts in carrying out their studies. The vital recommendations included in their reports were valid contributions to the work of the Committee. Mexico also expressed firm support for a resolution on the girl child.
PHAM THANH VAN (Viet Nam) said it was the consistent position of his Government that children were special citizens. The State and society must provide them with care and create a safe and supportive environment so that children will be well-protected and cared for. Children should be provided with the opportunity to maximize their potential and development in line with the spirit of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Vietnamese law on protection, care and education of children. However, Viet Nam had suffered from problems stemming from poverty, low levels of economic, technical and scientific development, poor infrastructure and the incomplete status of the legal system. To overcome this difficult situation, the Government had sought to achieve the following goals: integrate the principles of the Convention
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into all ongoing development activities; establish a system of organization and implementation; and enhance public knowledge about children's issues.
Viet Nam has also integrated strategies for child care and protection into the overall strategy for social development, he said, with emphasis on the policy and programme for hunger eradication and poverty alleviation to the year 2000. The Government had close cooperation with UNICEF and other relevant United Nations agencies, and had worked with international non- governmental organizations in implementing national community-based development programmes, with a special focus on addressing the needs of children. Viet Nam attached great importance to the issue of capacity- building because it was closely linked to the sustainable development of a country, and it considered the recent adjustment by many United Nations agencies, including UNICEF, towards technical assistance to be a positive action.
PERCIVAL MOU MOFOKENG (South Africa) implored the world community to support the conflict prevention measures recommended in the report on children in armed conflict by the Secretary-General's Expert, Graca Machel. Countries must work towards the adoption of measures to end the use of children in armed conflict and to ensure their demobilization and reintegration into society. His country's new constitution did not allow persons under 18 years of age to be used in armed conflict or recruited or permitted to perform work which was inappropriate or placed at risk a child's well-being, physical or mental health. Only persons who were seventeen years old and would be turning eighteen in the first year of their service were permitted to join the armed forces and they were not allowed to enter active combat until they were eighteen years old. As of 18 October, there were 12 people under the age of eighteen in the defense forces.
The report's recommendations on land-mines was particularly important, he said. Angola was said to have 85 per cent of the world's land-mine casualties. Mozambique also had a legacy of land-mines. His country had suspended the operational use of anti-personnel land-mines, prohibited the export of all forms of land-mines, and supported efforts to achieve an international prohibition on the production, stockpiling, transfer and use of land-mines. His Government supported the recommendation to appoint a Special Representative of the Secretary-General to serve as a focal point on efforts to stop the use of children in armed conflict. However, he stressed, the Special Representative must be given an appropriate mandate and adequate resources.
EMILIA C. DE BARISH (Costa Rica), speaking on behalf of the Central American States, said they were working actively to promote the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was a true break with history in recognizing the legal status of children. Based on this international doctrine, a legal and social framework had been established for the social and legal protection
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of children. In Central America, States needed to remould the very concept of children on which their legal order was based. The private sector had an important role and had contributed goods and services, including sugar enriched by vitamin A and the mobilization of the media. Particular attention should be given to the children who had suffered in Nicaragua. Massive immunization campaigns would ensure a reduced mortality rate for children there after the ravages of war which had not been completely eradicated. In addition, the promotion of the rights of children should not be seen as weakening the family's rights but rather strengthening them.
Graca Machel's report on children and armed conflicts illustrated how easy it was to violate these human rights, she said. The various aspects of modern armed conflict had increased the danger to children. The lines of distinction between soldiers and citizens had also blurred in recent years, and there was even now a preference for children as soldiers. Nicaragua placed particular importance on the report's section on land-mines, because there were more than 90,000 live anti-personnel land-mines which were of the most insidious and persistent danger to children in the country. The international community must find a way to deactivate all land-mines in all countries so innocent children could stop being killed. The Central American countries also supported the report given by the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, and agreed with the Special Rapporteur's conclusions on the commercial sexual exploitation of children. He had clearly pointed out the causes and circumstances of these actions, and all countries must look seriously and energetically at this problem.
The representative of Costa Rica, speaking on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China, went on to announce the Group had decided to oppose the inclusion of the term "within existing resources" in the resolutions of the Third Committee. The Group believed that this terminology entered within the prerogatives of the Fifth Committee. The Group of 77 and China hoped that such terminology would be eliminated. This was an issue to which the Group attached the utmost importance, and it would, whenever necessary, present the relevant amendments to be put to a vote.
WIWIEK SETYOWATI (Indonesia) said in programmes to follow-up the World Summit for Children and implement the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the World Summit for Social Development, her Government was attempting to preserve traditional culture and family values. It considered that to be central to ensuring that the rights of the child were respected and that child development would occur in a safe and healthy atmosphere. Indonesia was implementing a nine-year universal basic eduction programme targeted to achieve a minimum of 90 per cent school enrolment by the year 2003. In addressing the problem of child labour, Indonesia was undertaking strong measures to alleviate poverty which often motivated children to seek employment to help support the family. In collaboration with ILO and UNICEF,
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the Government conducted a workshop on child labour with a view to ratification of ILO Convention 138 on minimum age for employment. It had also
established a national focal point to monitor and coordinate national activities in the field.
She said increased prosperity was accompanied with new sets of problems for children such as child molestation and sexual exploitation. Her Government fully supported efforts to complete a draft optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to provide effective measures for the prevention and eradication of the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. The working group should adopt the results of the World Congress held in Stockholm.
HANITA ZIMRIN (Israel) said the issue of children's protection was characterized by its complexity. Her Government had developed a comprehensive model utilizing a single umbrella body. Thus, it was able to promote public awareness, provide a hotline, therapy, shelter, educational and prevention programmes, training, research and lobbying in a streamlined and effective manner. The amalgamation of these services allowed for a more comprehensive understanding of the problem, provided a continuum of intervention and ensured better coordination between services. Within this comprehensive approach, Israel's main focus was the children's best interests.
An issue that needed to be addressed was the interconnection of child protection and immigration, she said. A legitimate pattern of child rearing in one culture could potentially be considered child abuse in another, and a fine line must be walked between professional and cultural values. Moreover, people who migrated from one country to another were often in a state of crisis. Leaving everything behind and coming to a new environment could create a sense of frustration that could lead to aggression. This aggression was often directed at children. Over the past few years, Israel had absorbed hundreds of thousands of immigrants who now constituted 10 per cent of its total population. As a result, Israel had become the world's largest laboratory for developing programmes to deal with the combination of immigration and child abuse. Israel was ready and willing to share this accumulated knowledge and experience with other States.
YAOUI ATAKOUMA AMEGBLEAME (Togo) said that his Government deplored the fact that so many children around the world were subjected to degrading and immoral sexual abuse and exploitation, to armed conflict and to abusive economic exploitation. The world had seen the shocking pictures of the fate of millions of children. The international community must ensure the survival of children by implementing the Convention on the Rights of the Child comprehensively. Priority should be given to family, which was the ideal focus for the education and raising of children.
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His Government had committed itself to implementing the Convention, he continued. Togo considered its children its most precious resource for development. It had conducted a number of seminars with non-governmental organizations to ensure the well-being and care of children. The latest one had been held in Lome from 7 to 9 October with non-governmental organizations from 10 African countries. It had recommended the establishment of an international coalition of non-governmental organizations on the rights of the child which would elaborate a platform of action to encourage the dynamism between international organizations and States.
YEVHEN V. KOZIY (Ukraine) said the situation in the field of children's rights required the attention of individual Governments and the private sector, because the state of children in many parts of the world was a deep cause of concern. The reports of the Secretary-General's expert and the Special Rapporteur were evidence of this situation, and the conclusions of the reports should be translated into practical action. His Government supported the proposal, recommended in Ms. Machel's report on the affect of armed conflicts on children, to name a Special Representative of the Secretary-General.
The current situation for children in Ukraine was an integral part of the national health crisis, he said. The Chernobyl aftermath had had dire effects on the population: the number of children under eight years of age had decreased, and the mortality rate had been larger than the birthrate. A national program for action had been established to ensure children's legal and social protection and to combat infectious diseases, crime, malnutrition, drug abuse, and alcoholism. There was no other task that deserved more or greater efforts than the protection and development of children. Good intentions must be turned into reality to guarantee a chance for all to survive.
ALI MOHAMMAD RASHID RABIA (United Arab Emirates) said the images and tragedies of many children reported by the media emphasized the terrible suffering of children around the world. Armed conflicts and political strife in some parts of developing countries had led to the impoverishment and displacement of millions of children. Lack of shelter and other deprivations had led them to participate in violence and conflict The strengthening of national machinery was necessary to prevent children from being abused and used in armed conflict. Governments must channel resources to national development programmes and poverty alleviation which took into account the needs of children. Industrialized countries must give aid to the developing countries to help them establish health and education programmes.
Child development was the real wealth and pillar of all domestic development programmes, he continued. His Government was devoting resources to children's recreation and education and child development centres. A high priority was also being given to child health, and widespread vaccination
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programmes had helped eradicate many diseases. Kindergartens and nursery schools were established to help mothers. The United Arab Emirates was donating money to programmes for the recovery of poor children and those displaced as a result of conflict and natural disasters. Combating the scourges of all forms of child exploitation was vitally important. The United Nations agencies must coordinate efforts to advance the status of women. Ms. Machel's report and its recommendations contained valuable guidelines for the international community.
HELENE HOLM-PEDERSEN, representative of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said the International Federation had expressed its position on the humanitarian consequences of the imposition of economic sanctions on many occasions. The decision to use sanctions was a political one, and the International Federation did not express a view on the legitimacy or otherwise of such decisions. However, it was its right and its duty as one component of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement to point out that the consequences were borne disproportionately by groups and individuals who were already among the weakest and most powerless in the countries subject to sanctions. The burdens imposed were particularly carried by women and children.
When designing, imposing and reviewing economic sanctions, the International Federation urged States to consider the possible negative impact on the humanitarian situation and to monitor the consequences, once sanctions had been imposed, she said. Furthermore, it also urged States which were subject to sanctions to provide relief to vulnerable groups in their territories and to the victims of other humanitarian emergencies which could occur in their countries. Providing such relief required States to permit relief operations of a humanitarian character for the benefit of the most vulnerable groups among the civilian population. The International Federation had fulfilled, and would continue to fulfil its mandate to contribute to the reduction of undesirable side-effects of economic sanctions, and invited the support of the international community for its efforts to assist the most vulnerable among those affected.
VICTOR PACE (Malta), said the Universal Declaration on Human Rights recognized the family as the natural and fundamental unit in society entitled to protection by society and the state. Yet the family was facing multiple threats in both the developing and developed world. Children should be the first to benefit from mankind's successes and the last to suffer from its failures. "Our children are a mirror -- an honest reflection of their parents and their world. Sometimes the reflection is flattering, at other times we simply do not like what we see." His Government had made tireless efforts to create a better social environment for children up to fourteen years of age who accounted for nearly 28 per cent of the Maltese population.
Malta had free education from kindergarten through to university, he
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continued. Students at junior college and university were even paid a monthly allowance. There were also special schools for the educationally subnormal, hearing, intellectually or mentally impaired or disabled children. Legislation protecting against child labour covered children up to age fifteen and the employment of young people between sixteen to eighteen years of age was regulated. Various provisions in the penal code protected children and the neglect of those children younger than seven years of age could lead to imprisonment. Other laws covered penalties for the crimes of defilement of minors, and enticing, forcing or encouraging them into prostitution.
NINA SIBAL, representative of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), said the Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted in 1989, and it continued to be the major international instrument which promoted the children's basic rights to life and protection against exploitation, abuse and indoctrination. However, as Ms. Machel's report on the impact of armed conflict on children made clear, modern warfare did not distinguish between civilians and soldiers, children and adults. Children accounted for the major proportion of the innocent victims of large scale upheaval and violence. In addition, children were often recruited at very young ages as combatants in conflicts and used as couriers, guides and cleaners of weapons. The armed conflicts into which children were involuntarily dragged affected the physical and psychological health of children, including the provision of basic educational and health services.
UNESCO had always paid particular attention to the victims of war, she said. In order to address the tragic reality that millions of children were affected by conflict, UNESCO had endeavoured to develop strategies and promote instruments not only to protect and care for them, but also to defend their rights. Education was a fundamental right and the most important key to development and peace. It was also the main process by which people developed values, attitudes and behaviours, and UNESCO placed education at the core of its efforts to build a culture of peace and to prevent conflicts.
DAVID FREEDMAN of the ILO, said the agency's main instrument on child labour was the Minimum Age Convention (no. 138) adopted in 1973. It applied to all sectors of economic activity and by ratifying it, States committed to pursuing a national policy to ensure the effective abolition of child labour and to raise progressively the minimum age for employment to a level consistent with the fullest physical and mental development of young persons. The ILO had also begun the process leading towards the adoption of a new binding international instrument aimed at banning the most intolerable forms of child labour. They were forms of labour which were contrary to fundamental human rights such as work by children in slave-like conditions, drug trafficking, or pornography, and work which by its nature or conditions, exposed children to particularly grave threats to their safety or health, or prevented them from attending school normally.
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To complement its legislative work, the ILO provided technical assistance to Member States, he continued. The objective of the ILO's International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour was progressively to eliminate child labour by changing social attitudes and strengthening the capacity of Governments to reform policy in crucial fields such as education and the labour market. Political will by Governments to address child labour in cooperation with employers' and workers' organizations, other non- governmental organizations, universities and the media -- was the starting point and guarantee of sustainability of all Programme action. Nationally, cooperation between ministries responsible for labour, education, social welfare, justice and law enforcement was crucial to eliminate child labour.
Right of Reply
The representative of Singapore, speaking in exercise of the right of reply, referred to the statement by Costa Rica speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. She agreed that the terminology "within existing resources" in the Committee's resolutions entered within the prerogative of the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary). However, the Group of 77 and China had said wherever necessary they intended to present the relevant amendments to a vote. She hoped it would not be necessary to do that and that the Committee would be able to work through consensus and not allow the issue of resources to distract it from its work on social, humanitarian and cultural issues.
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