BRIEFING BY UNICEF DEPUTY DIRECTOR

Press Briefing

BRIEFING BY UNICEF DEPUTY DIRECTOR

The greatest obstacles to implementing the Convention on the Rights of the Child are States' lack of resources, peace and security issues, and the HIV/AIDS pandemic, according to the Deputy Director of Programmes for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

At a press conference held at Headquarters this morning to mark the Convention's tenth anniversary, Deputy Director Marjory Williams cited those obstacles, but also stressed the fact that, in just 10 years, the Convention had spurred legal reform worldwide. With nearly universal ratification, the Convention was creating a structure of accountability for children. [The Children's Rights Convention is the most broadly ratified United Nations treaty. It recognizes the particular vulnerability of children and brings together in one comprehensive code the full range of benefits and protection that should be guaranteed them.

Introducing Ms. Williams, UNICEF Communications Officer Alfred Ironside explained that today was the first day of UNICEF's week-long celebration to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Convention's adoption by the General Assembly on 20 November 1999.

Ms. Williams said the United Nations working group had concluded the Convention as the cold war was coming to an end. That political transition had made the treaty possible.

The first proposal for a children's rights convention had been made in 1978 by the Government of Poland, as lead-up to the 1979 International Year of the Child, she recalled. Poland had proposed adding an implementation clause to the 1959 Declaration on the Rights of the Child and having it adopted by the General Assembly. In the cold war climate, however, the Polish proposal had been defined as an "Eastern bloc" initiative, and the "Western bloc" had developed a counter position. With the thaw of the cold war, governments had been able to put children's best interests above political divisions.

The Convention changed the paradigm of grouping civil and political rights, on one side, and economic, social and cultural rights, on the other, she said. The 1959 Declaration had approached human rights as holistic and dealt with violations of economic rights as implicitly part of the violation of civil and political rights. The Convention did not distinguish between them.

The Convention had been universally ratified, with two exceptions, and was entering into law, she said. The two exceptions were Somalia and the United States, she noted, in response to a question. The treaty had sparked legislative reform in 50 countries across the world. Already, 136 countries had filed their first reports with its monitoring body. The Convention had also brought certain issues to the fore and made it possible to discuss concerns that had been previously treated as taboo, such as commercial sexual exploitation of children and child labour. There was now public debate on female genital mutilation in countries where it was practised in a way that would have been unheard of 10 years ago.

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The Convention stressed birth registration as a child's first right, she said. Registration was an acknowledgment of existence and the right to name, nationality, and recognition by society as a subject of rights. It also established that every child had the right to primary education. The Convention was creating a structure of accountability in society for children.

Asked about the non-ratifying States, Ms. Williams said that Somalia did not have a government to act as a ratifier, and the United States did not routinely ratify Conventions.

Asked about remaining challenges, Ms. Williams said the overall challenge was to transform law into public policy, budget commitments, reformed institutions and new values and behavior. The greatest challenge would be to create a culture of respect for children's rights in communities, homes, families, schools and society as a whole. That could be measured in simple ways: did children have the right to have a voice, was corporal punishment accepted, where did adolescents fit in society? In the United Nations system, there was debate about raising the age of recruitment into armed forces, she noted.

A correspondent asked about UNICEF's work in Bangladesh. Ms. Williams said the entire United Nations system and the World Bank were working closely with the Government to provide clean water. There had been evidence of arsenic contamination in water, and UNICEF was working with the Government to test wells and treat those who had been affected by arsenic.

To a question on birth registration, she said that UNICEF provided direct assistance in a few countries and advocated for birth registration wherever it was a problem. It also collaborated with other members of the United Nations family. However, it was not always the best agency to provide the technical assistance needed.

The first challenge was to convince governments of the importance of registration, she continued. Without knowing someone's age, it was difficult to decide whether a child should be in school or working. Children were trafficked across borders for sexual exploitation or other devious activities. Without identity papers, it was impossible to determine which jurisdiction protected them.

Asked whether the Convention had yielded practical results, Ms. Williams said 10 years was a short time to evaluate a treaty, but UNICEF had noted real progress. It would take longer than that for countries whose level of school registration was 30 per cent to reach a rate of 100 per cent. But in Malawi, she noted, school registration had shot up to 90 per cent when fees had been eliminated. Countries were also making real efforts to combat child labour. India's Supreme Court had upheld legislation obliging State authorities to ensure that the rights of working children to education were fulfilled.

Asked about a recent Human Rights Watch report describing the Convention as "hollow", Ms. Williams said that was an overstatement. Universal access to health care, water, sanitation, and adequate standards of living were goals that could not be legislated. Rather, they must be budgeted and planned. The important thing was for countries to demonstrate that they were making all

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possible efforts within their available resources. In some poor countries, efforts were undermined by debt burden. When the bulk of resources went for servicing debt, funds could not be invested in the social development of children. That was an international issue, not a national one, she stressed.

Were debt and threats to peace and security the two main obstacles to the exercise of children's rights? a correspondent asked. Ms. Williams said HIV/AIDS was a third factor. Particularly in the eastern countries of sub-Saharan Africa, the AIDS pandemic was wiping out whole communities, leaving children without parents, schools without teachers, and families with no source of income. The numbers were staggering. In December, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) would be providing its 1999 data on HIV/AIDS, and she hoped the world would wake up to reality. It was an emergency of proportions never before seen in the world. Deaths from HIV/AIDS far exceeded deaths due to armed conflict in Africa.

Which countries were the least friendly to children? a correspondent asked. Ms. Williams explained that factors beyond a country's control, such as cross-border issues or persistent debt, might make it a place where children's rights were violated. In its June 1999 Progress of Nations report, UNICEF had introduced a "child risk index". On the basis of child survival, education and security indicators, Angola had come out on the top of the list where children's rights were at risk.

Asked for comment about funding trends, she said civil society, the private sector and governments must engage in a dialogue about resources. The framework of accountability for the new century must include responsible corporate citizenship. There was more money, knowledge and technology in the world today than ever before. It was a question of will, she stressed.

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