PREPARATORY COMMITTEE FOR 2001 GENERAL ASSEMBLY SPECIAL SESSION ON CHILDREN'S SUMMIT, AT HEADQUARTERS, 7 - 8 FEBRUARY

4 February 2000

Press Release
HR/4458

PREPARATORY COMMITTEE FOR 2001 GENERAL ASSEMBLY SPECIAL SESSION ON CHILDREN'S SUMMIT, AT HEADQUARTERS, 7 - 8 FEBRUARY

20000204 Background Release

The Preparatory Committee for the 2001 special session of the General Assembly for follow-up to the World Summit for Children will hold its organizational session at Headquarter from 7 to 8 February. The Preparatory Committee was established by General Assembly resolution 54/93 of 7 December 1999.

The special session of the Assembly is aimed at providing an end-of-decade review of the implementation of the World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children and the Plan of Action, which were adopted by the World Summit at Headquarters in September 1990. Seventy-one heads of State or government, and delegations from another 88 countries, took part in its work. The main documents of the Summit were endorsed by 181 countries, 155 of which subsequently prepared national programmes of action for children.

The decision to convene the special session was made during the fifty- first session of the General Assembly, which also undertook a mid-decade review of the implementation of the Summit. Welcoming the significant progress towards the majority of the mid-decade goals of the World Summit, the Assembly, in its resolution 51/186, noted with concern the considerable variation in the progress of different countries and regions. Progress in the areas of malnutrition, maternal mortality, sanitation and girls' education had been inadequate and, in some cases, negligible, it stated.]

According to the proposals of the Secretary-General on the preparatory process for the special session (document A/AC.256/2), the special session is also expected to provide the basis for future action for children. It is hoped that reflection on national-level reviews and policy discussions, as well as other processes, including regional ones, will assist in the identification of overall trends and lessons learned and contribute to the work of the Preparatory Committee in achieving global consensus on the remaining major challenges and priorities.

The Preparatory Committee, at its upcoming organizational session, is expected to decide on the exact dates of the special session of the General Assembly, which will be held in September 2001, and on the possible dates for its own substantive sessions next year. The Committee will also address non- governmental organization involvement in the work on behalf of children.

- 2 - Press Release HR/4458 4 February 2000

The first substantive session of the Preparatory Committee is expected to take place from 30 May to 2 June 2000. The Preparatory Committee's sessions are scheduled immediately following the meetings of the Executive Board of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), which is called upon to provide substantive input in the work of the Committee and at the special session.

As described in the Secretary-Generals proposals, in order to provide the Preparatory Committee and the special session with the most up-to-date and comprehensive overview of global trends, the Secretary-General will report on emerging issues to the substantive session of the Preparatory Committee. The document will draw on the report presented to the Executive Board of UNICEF in June 1999 entitled "Future global vision for children -- imperatives for the twenty-first century", and on the extensive technical consultations which UNICEF is undertaking with a range of governmental experts, United Nations agencies, non-governmental organizations and academic institutions. A paper on the outcome of the World Education Forum to be held in Dakar in April 2000 and reports from regional consultations will also be presented.

Preliminary activities within the United Nations include a meeting held in Geneva on 28 and 29 September 1999, at which UNICEF invited Europe-based international agencies to formally apprise UNICEF of the process of review and assessment of the implementation of the World Declaration. At that meeting, the Executive Director of UNICEF outlined the review process and indicated that, as previously mandated, the entire United Nations system would be requested to report on its contribution to the process of implementation of the World Declaration and Plan of Action of the Summit.

The Secretary-General states in his proposals that recent reforms in the operational activities of the United Nations, the introduction of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework, the strengthening of the resident coordinator system, and the establishment of the United Nations Development Group have added a new dimension to the implementation of the agendas and plans of action. In consequence, UNICEF has also requested the Development Group to incorporate into its agenda a discussion of its participation in the exercise.

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