ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT CALLS FOR ôGENEROUS FUNDSàUNWAVERING COMMITMENTö TO REALIZE CULTURE OF PEACE FOR WORLDS CHILDREN

Press Release
GA/SM/122
HR/4439

ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT CALLS FOR “GENEROUS FUNDS…UNWAVERING COMMITMENT” TO REALIZE CULTURE OF PEACE FOR WORLDS CHILDREN

Following is the text of a statement made today by Theo-Ben Gurirab, President of the General Assembly, on the tenth anniversary on the Convention on the Rights of the Child:

When I spoke at the opening of this 54th Session of the General Assembly in September, I described a number of the major challenges that face us on the eve of the new millennium.

Uppermost in my mind was, then and is today, the plight of many millions of children in the world who continue to die of preventable causes; who are victimized by drugs, crime and sexual abuse; who continue to face a future of hunger, poverty and illiteracy; who are subjected to hazardous and exploitative work; who are targets of violence or victims of neglect –- and, above all, who continue to be used as child soldiers to fight bloody and destructive wars of adults.

With all this in mind, I am particularly pleased to deliver this statement today, on the occasion of the commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the General Assembly.

There are, I am told, over 2 billion children in the world today: 2 billion precious fruit trees and beautiful flowers of the human family –- our souls! Their protection and development is crucial to the future survival of humanity.

We must not fail our children, because the consequences are unthinkable. What happens to children in the early years determines for better or for worse, their growth and place in the society. This, in turn, has influence on their role and character. We are parents and we know that. That is why so much of the future depends upon the rewarding opportunities and care that we provide for our children when they are young. They need special attention and priority for a variety of compelling reasons -– moral, social, economic and cultural, as well.

Since the adoption of the Convention, children’s interest is now placed higher on public and developmental agendas than ever before -– and significant recognition of their rights is reflected in the

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initiatives that United Nations Member States undertake in fields such as public policy, law reform and enforcement, as well as social security.

At the same time, however, the process of globalization has sharply widened the economic and social gap between and within States, with women and children being put precariously at the receiving end of its effects in the third world.

Most countries in the developing world are plagued by major economic problems, with bleak prospects for growth, thus compromising any prospects of fully realizing the rights of children.

The worldwide external debt burden represents yet another major obstacle to social progress and caring for children. A child in the developing world is born with an average debt baggage of $417. Sub- Saharan Africa spends more on servicing its debt of over $200 billion than on the health and education of its 306 million children.

And there is more.

The girl child in particular, due to her gender, suffers discrimination and abuse for a greater part of her life. Moreover, the girl child faces deep traditional prejudices and is denied opportunities for equality, education, nutrition, health care, and often survival itself. It is, therefore, important to take account of the special needs of the girl child. The 1995 Beijing Platform for Action adopted a specific critical area of concern for the girl child and agreed to the life cycle approach that should be included into all programmes and policies aimed at benefiting the girl child.

Because of gender discrimination and unceasing violence, millions of girls, not unlike their mothers and sisters, continue to be denied their basic rights, which means they lose out on opportunities to participate fully as adults in the political, economic and social life of their countries, namely on opportunities for power, wealth and access.

The HIV/AIDS pandemic is a global menace of almost unimaginable proportions -– and yet, it is a killer monster to which the global community is still failing to provide the kind of concerted response that is so urgently needed. It is a borderless and non-discriminatory enemy of humanity.

The scourge of war, with children and women as the primary victims, continues to threaten decades of political, economic and social gains, especially in Africa –- driving millions from their homes and countries, while subjecting many innocent children to unspeakable brutality.

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On 25 August 1999, during the Namibian Presidency of the Security Council, I chaired an open debate on “Children and Armed Conflict”. At the end of that debate, the Security Council adopted its first-ever resolution, Resolution 1261 (1999), on the plight of children in armed conflict.

The Security Council, inter alia, “strongly condemns the targeting of children in situations of armed conflict, including killing and maiming, sexual violence, abduction and forced

displacement, recruitment and use of children in armed conflict in violation of international law … and calls on all parties concerned to put an end to such practices”.

I believe the General Assembly, as well as the Economic and Social Council and other key bodies in the United Nations system should follow suit and do even more. The Assembly, for one, must lead by example.

But condemnation, though laudable, is not enough. The ugly and painful abuses continue today in many countries in the world that are currently engulfed in armed conflicts. It is for this reason that I call upon the delegations present here to demonstrate their support for the Peace and Security Agenda for Children, which was launched in February, this year by UNICEF. The Executive Director of UNICEF, Ms. Carol Bellamy, is a hardworking champion of the rights and welfare of children. She can always count on my cooperation and support. We are all in this together, because we are saving our own lives.

In the same vein, the Special Representative of the Secretary- General on Children and Armed Conflict, Ambassador Olara Otunnu, has proposed practical measures to prevent or mitigate the suffering of children who are actually caught up in conflicts in many parts of the world. I encourage him to continue with his worldwide campaign on behalf of our children -- the leaders of the twenty-first century and beyond.

The years 2001-2010 have been proclaimed by the General Assembly as the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the World. We must translate this lofty declaration of intent into a viable plan of action, buttressing it with generous funds, resources and unwavering commitment by the entire international community.

I want to seize this opportunity, once again, to call upon this and all future sessions of the General Assembly to ensure that the rights and well-being of our children are an ever-present responsibility all year around and put on the front burner for action.

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I can hardly think of any better way for the General Assembly to fulfil the United Nations Charter’s vision of a peaceful, just and prosperous world –- and the Convention’s promise of a better future for every child.

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