ASSEMBLY SPEAKERS WORK TO REFINE GOALS, STRATEGIES FOR 2001 SPECIAL SESSION ON CHILDREN

Press Release
GA/9823

ASSEMBLY SPEAKERS WORK TO REFINE GOALS, STRATEGIES FOR 2001 SPECIAL SESSION ON CHILDREN

Since the World Summit for Children in 1990 the world had undergone unforeseen changes, but children were still the most vulnerable members of society, the representative of Indonesia told the General Assembly this afternoon, as it continued its consideration of the special session of the General Assembly in 2001 for follow-up to the World Summit for Children.

He said poverty remained the greatest challenge to enhancing the development, welfare and protection of children throughout the world. The future agenda for children should be guided by the need to be innovative, concise and action-oriented, with a view to achieving a positive impact on the lives of the most disadvantaged. Emphasis should be placed on combating diseases that took a high toll of children. Enhancing children’s health and nutrition was a first duty, and was also a task for which solutions were now within reach.

Nigeria's representative said that, over the last decade, major challenges had emerged which continued to impinge on the rights and welfare of children, such as the deepening of poverty, proliferation of conflicts and the consequent spread of violence, the spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic and the persistence of discrimination, particularly against women and girls. Children in the developing countries were the worst hit by those challenges.

One vital area that the special session needed to address was the issue of children in armed conflict, he said. The international community must be more forceful in bringing to justice all those who committed war crimes, particularly against women and children. Equally important was addressing the issue of trafficking in children for the purposes of slavery and prostitution.

The Republic of Korea's representative believed that the special session should be based, above all, on the spirit of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. That rights-based approach might clash with culture and tradition in some areas, but the rights of children must be given priority over cultural and traditional singularities. Particular focus was also required on the gap between de facto and de jure rights of children. He added that to fully implement laws and policies, it was essential to strengthen a culture of respect for children’s rights.

He said that children and adolescents should be given the opportunity to participate in the decision-making process of issues that affected them, as well

General Assembly Plenary - 1a - Press Release GA/9823 63rd Meeting (PM) 15 November 2000

as to play a role in the development of tolerant, peaceful and democratic societies.

Iran's representative said it was also important to strengthen the institution of the family and family bonds. That was one of the most effective ways to protect children from the numerous threats facing them in different societies. The family, as the fundamental unit of society and the natural unit for the growth and well-being of all its members, particularly its children, must be afforded the necessary protection and assistance so that it could fully assume its community responsibilities.

Also this afternoon, the representative of Jamaica introduced a draft resolution on the special session of the General Assembly in 2001 for follow-up to the World Summit on children.

The representatives of Philippines, Mongolia, Pakistan, Burkina Faso, Bangladesh, South Africa, Chile, Libya, Japan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Belarus, Qatar, Venezuela, Fiji, Israel and Malaysia also spoke, as did the Permanent Observers for the Holy See and Switzerland.

The Assembly will meet again at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow, 16 November, to consider the question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and related matters.

General Assembly Plenary - 3 - Press Release GA/9823 63rd Meeting (PM) 15 November 2000

Assembly Work Programme

The fifty-fifth regular session of the General Assembly met this afternoon to continue its consideration of the special session of the General Assembly in 2001 for follow-up to the World Summit for Children.

(For more background information, see Press Release GA/9822 of 15 November.)

The Assembly had before it a draft resolution on preparations for the special session on children (document A/55/L.34). By the terms of the draft, the Assembly would stress that the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child contributes to the achievement of the goals of the World Summit for Children, and would recommend that a thorough assessment of the 10 years of implementation of the Convention should be an essential element in preparations for the special session.

The Assembly would also request the Secretary-General, taking into account the national reports to be submitted by Member States, to submit to the Assembly at its special session, through the Preparatory Committee for the Special Session, a review of the implementation and results of the World Declaration and Plan of Action, including appropriate recommendations for further actions. The review would also elaborate on the best practices noted and obstacles encountered in the implementation process, as well as on measures to overcome those obstacles.

Further to the draft resolution, the Assembly would invite States members of the specialized agencies that were not States members of the United Nations to participate in the work of the special session, and would reaffirm the important role of all relevant actors, including non-governmental organizations (NGOs), in implementing the Plan of Action, and would stress the need for their active involvement in the preparatory process and at the special session, the modalities for which were being addressed by the Preparatory Committee.

The Assembly would decide to convene a special session of the Assembly for follow-up to the World Summit for Children on 19-21 September 2001, and to refer to it as the “special session on children”.

The Assembly would also decide to convene two substantive sessions of the Preparatory Committee for the Special Session in New York during 2001, one from 29 January to 2 February and the other from 11 to 15 June.

Statements

FELIPE MABILANGAN (Philippines) said that the commitment and dedication of the Philippines to its children and to the promotion of child welfare and development found expression in the country’s most fundamental law. Enshrined in the constitution was a peremptory directive to the State to defend the rights of the child from the right to assistance, including proper care and nutrition, to the right to special protection from all forms of neglect, abuse, cruelty, exploitation and other conditions prejudicial to their development. While on the threshold of unprecedented global growth and technology-driven progress, children were still going through indescribable suffering, he said.

The right steps were taken when many States signed the two optional protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Philippines welcomed those protocols as they contained policies that the Philippines had already adopted, including raising to eighteen years the minimum age for recruitment to military service as well as preventing individuals under the age of eighteen from participating in hostilities. In addition, the Philippines had criminalized violations of the right of children in the context of the sale of children, child prostitution and pornography. It had embarked on a comprehensive and integrated programme to deliver social services to the most needy areas, including indigenous and cultural communities.

He suggested broadening the agenda to include the issue of early childhood care and development at the follow-up to the World Summit. Early childhood care and development provided children with a good start in life, he said. The care a child received in his or her early years played a critical role in the child’s total development, as well as in his or her future well-being as an adult. He called upon world leaders who had not done so to sign and ratify the optional protocols to the convention and other international instruments that offered the promise of a better world for all children.

JARGALSAIKHANY ENKHSAIKHAN (Mongolia) said despite positive steps towards protection of the rights of the child, recent reports indicated that the progress had been uneven in different regions and within countries. The Human Development Report 2000 stated that some 90 million children were out of school at the primary level, and that more than 30,000 children died every year from mainly preventable causes. There should be no doubt that renewed commitment and definition of specific areas of future action were the major challenges for the next decade.

It was essential to narrow and eliminate the gap between children’s legal rights and their actual rights. In order to ensure that, the appropriate policy, budgetary and institutional reforms must be instituted in all countries, he said. Mongolia shared the view that the future agenda for children, to be adopted at the forthcoming special session, should be innovative, concise and action-oriented. On its part, Mongolia would continue its efforts to ensure that the all-round development of its children made it an active participant in this global endeavour.

Issues related to children, to their development, to protection and promotion of their rights, were of particular concern to Mongolia, he said. In Mongolia, children and youth constituted an overwhelming majority of the population. Over the past years, the Government had made consistent efforts to ensure broader access to health services and education for all children, to mobilize resources to fully implement the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the goals of the World Summit. However, the country was still grappling with transition difficulties, and the growing number of street children and school dropouts was a source of serious concern. Infant and under- five mortality was still high. Moreover, there were newly emerging social ills like suicides, especially among adolescents, prostitution, alcohol and tobacco abuse.

He said that the Labour Law set a minimum work age and maximum work hours for all. Children under sixteen years of age were not permitted to work, and those under eighteen were prohibited from doing arduous work or working in dangerous areas such as mineshafts. However, according to a recent survey, child labour was becoming an issue that needed coherent State policy and control, an improved legal framework and concrete preventive actions on the part of the State. Mongolia had recently ratified the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour.

SHAMSHAD AHMAD (Pakistan) said that following the World Summit for Children, Pakistan had formulated a National Plan of Action with goals for the year 2000. Considerable advances had been made in the realization of those goals. But further action was required to ensure better nutrition, basic education, and education for the girl child. His Government was deeply committed not only to the realization of the goals of the Summit, but also to the implementation in letter and spirit of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The head of Pakistan’s Government had also launched a National Plan of Action for the elimination of exploitative child labour. The juvenile justice system was being revamped in order to safeguard the rights and privileges of children.

Like Pakistan, many developing countries had launched major initiatives for the realization of the goals of the World Summit. However, the pace of progress had been uneven. One of the major challenges facing the world today was the need to eliminate deep disparities in the conditions and quality of life available to children of different regions of the world. Goals for the development of children were linked to the achievement of overall goals of development. It was widely acknowledged that progress on the latter count had been rather dismal. Moreover, a heavy external debt burden had seriously curtailed the ability of the developing countries to allocate sufficient resources to achieve the goals and objectives of the Summit. Without alleviation of the debt burden and an increase in official development assistance (ODA), there was little likelihood that national policies could be fully implemented and the goals of the Summit achieved any time in the near future.

Any “Future Agenda for Children” should include the unfinished agenda of the Summit. A “good start in life” had to be preceded by substantial reduction in child mortality rates. The goal of “quality education” had to be pursued in tandem with the objective of ensuring universal access to education. Opportunities for adolescents to realize their full potential needed to be provided, but the critical role of parental guidance and family could not be underestimated. In that context, cultural and social values should be carefully respected.

MICHEL KAFANDO (Burkina Faso) said that, in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Burkina Faso had adopted several legislative measures to better ensure the protection of children. Its new criminal code, adopted in 1996, addressed not only crimes such as kidnapping and infanticide, but also traditional harmful practices such as forced marriage and female genital mutilation. Furthermore, a minor’s district for children had been established in Ouagadougou, and the education system was experimenting with satellite schooling.

Much had been done over the last few years; however, many children in Burkina Faso were still not in school. That was a real challenge and an obstacle to the development of the country. There were also the consequences on children of HIV/AIDS and armed conflicts. To counter those threats, developing countries must continue with legal, economic and political reform. Legally, all States must ratify and implement the Convention on the Rights of the Child as well as the two optional protocols. Politically and economically, it was essential that policies for development should stress the importance of getting children into school. At the moment, 100 million children were not in school. It was high time that education was recognized as a real investment. The quality of human resources was the main factor in development, and human resources depended on the educational system.

He acknowledged the important work and support from the European Union, the Scandinavian countries and Canada. He also acknowledged the essential role played by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). The World Food Programme (WFP) had also played a significant role in sub-Saharan Africa. Burkina Faso hoped that the follow-up would take very important decisions, including support children through an action plan. Its decisions must be bold enough to tackle the challenges facing the international community.

MAKMUR WIDODO (Indonesia) said that, since the World Summit for Children, the world had undergone unforeseen changes. Globalization had provided the context for international relations, democracy had taken root in many countries, and information technology had further reduced the barriers between nations and peoples. Yet some realities remained as true today as ever. Children were still the most vulnerable members of society, and poverty remained the greatest challenge to enhancing the development, welfare and protection of children throughout the world.

The future agenda for children should be guided by the need to be innovative, concise and action-oriented, with a view to achieving a positive impact on the lives of the most disadvantaged. Other international summits and conferences had set targets for poverty eradication, education and food security, among other things. Therefore, emphasis should be placed on combating diseases that took a high toll of children. Child mortality rates remained unacceptably high, and more needed to be done to address malnutrition, maternal mortality and basic education. Enhancing children's health and nutrition was a first duty, and was also a task for which solutions were now within reach.

In the immediate years after the World Summit, Indonesia had made considerable progress in implementing the Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children, such as in the areas of child immunization, provision of clean water and improved sanitation. Most importantly, the poverty rate in Indonesia had been reduced. However, an economic crisis had all but eliminated much of the progress achieved, and had had a broad impact on the welfare of children. That situation had gravely affected his Government’s efforts to meet the goals set at the World Summit. Political reformation had, however, brought renewed hope for the protection and development of children, and his Government was strongly committed to doing what it could with what it had.

ARTHUR C.I. MBANEFO (Nigeria) said major challenges which continued to impinge on the rights and welfare of children included: the deepening of poverty and inequality; proliferation of conflicts and the consequent spread of violence; the spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic; and the persistence of discrimination, particularly against women and girls. A total of 3.8 million children were said to have died of AIDS, while 13 million children had been orphaned by the disease, and the number might reach 40 million before the end of the decade. Robust and effective action would be required at the national, regional and international levels to deal with those issues, if the aims and objectives of the Declaration adopted in 1990 were to be fully realized.

Children in the developing countries were the worst hit by the challenges that had emerged since the World Children's Summit in 1990. One vital area that the special session needed to address was the issue of children in armed conflict. The international community must be more forceful in bringing to justice all those who committed war crimes, particularly against women and children. Equally important was addressing the issue of trafficking in children for the purposes of slavery and prostitution.

Notwithstanding the difficulties posed by the major challenges, Nigeria had adopted a National Plan of Action in 1992, in pursuit of the goals of the World Summit. The Plan of Action had since become a blueprint for collaboration with the United Nations and with some of its specialized agencies, such as UNICEF. Steps taken included the re-invigoration of the social sector through programmes and projects, the adoption of a robust poverty alleviation programme, the active promotion of gender equality, and the establishment of National and States-level Task Forces on the girl child. The present administration had also recently launched the Universal Basic Education and the National Rebirth programmes, designed to improve the lives and orientation of Nigerian children to nation- building and development.

ANWARUL KARIM CHOWDHURY (Bangladesh) said that the number of people living in poverty, half of whom were children, was now greater than ever before. Poverty reduced the ability of parents and families to provide children with a safe, sound, stable environment. The lives of countless children were blighted by crushing poverty; their potentials were nipped by lack of opportunities; their rights remained unmet due to gross deprivation. The spread of many deadly diseases continued unabated. Malnutrition was growing. Armed conflict and political instability were proliferating. Violence against children was being carried out with impunity. Child labour, in different degrees and all over the world, still defied control. But the international community had new opportunities and new tools to fight many of those challenges.

The new approaches to development had reinforced the conviction that efforts to end poverty and exclusion must be guided by the values and principles of human rights and the rights of the child. In that context, he emphasized that special attention should be accorded to the rights of the girl child. A rights-based approach to development was the way forward. The information and communications revolution had opened up new avenues for people to participate in development and protection of their rights. The singular challenge before the international community was to mobilize the political commitment of the world’s leaders to invest in the common future. The international community needed to adopt a set of practical and convincing strategies for attaining the goals within their projected time frames, and would need to forge new partnerships with civil society organizations, the private sector and children themselves.

JEANNETTE T. NDHLOVU (South Africa) said that in order to recognize the importance of the upcoming special session, one should recall the goals of the first Summit's Plan of Action and Declaration, which appealed to the international community “to give every child a better future”. At the same time, it would be important to factor in the Millennium Summit Declaration, which called for increased development and protection of children. The special session would present an extraordinary opportunity for government leaders, NGOs, children's advocates and youth to dialogue and agree on new emerging issues. It would also provide an opportunity for all actors to commit themselves to changing the way the world viewed and treated children.

She noted that near-universal ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child had not resulted in universal implementation. Reports submitted by the Secretary-General, UNICEF and other actors attested to the fact that many of the world’s children did not enjoy some fundamental freedoms and inherent rights. To rectify that, regional initiatives aimed at the regeneration of Africa -- the African Renaissance -- sought to reassert children's rightful place in the spectrum of global diversity. Their dignity and self-worth must be fully restored. The promotion and implementation of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child was a region-specific tool that allowed African States to focus on education, achievement and health-care concerns.

Next, she suggested some issues that she felt should be top priorities at the upcoming special session. There was an immediate need to take urgent action to confront the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS on children. In that regard, the lack of affordable medical interventions should also be addressed with urgency. Further, world partners should address the challenge of globalization and how it affected the ability of countries to achieve the goals of the World Summit as well as those of the special session. Creativity was the key to identifying ways to harness the effects of globalization to accelerate progress for children. Other measures, such as reduction of external debt and the necessity of apportioning aid flows to the neediest economies must also be a part of the session's international agenda. Countries should also allocate higher proportions of their budgets to basic social services which benefited children. It was her delegation’s hope that the session’s outcome document would have universal relevance in addressing the situation of children all over the world. “By investing in the life cycle of children, we can change the course of human development,” she said.

CRISTIAN MAQUIEIRA (Chile) said that Chile’s commitment to children could be seen in its efforts to eradicate poverty, improve equality and improve access to, among other things, school food and health programmes. Upon the return to democracy, one of the first steps of the government had been to adopt national laws in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Chile had undertaken a national plan for children based on three central pillars: improvement of sectoral development policies; gradual improvement of the national law; and the implementation of instruments linked to planning and policy in connection with children.

The Government focused on education, health and justice, he said. Education was a key component in overcoming poverty and social vulnerability, and resources had been mobilized for that purpose. The qualitative transformation of the educational system would hopefully lead to a substantial improvement in Chilean children’s level of education. Access to health care also had priority status. In the field of justice, there was a movement to reform family and minors’ legislation. One reform was the paternity law that eliminated all form of discrimination against children.

Chile had also established a set of committees to address thematic objectives such as child labour, breastfeeding, pre-school education and prevention of drug addiction. Chile’s commitment could be seen in the participation in the Millennium Summit held in September in New York, the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the 1992 National Plan for Children, the passing of laws benefiting children and public policies for children below six years of age for low-income families. Despite progress, however, Chile still had a long road to travel to build a society where no children were deprived of education or access to health care.

NAJAT AL-HAJJAJI (Libya) said that States must be urged to create mandatory non-discriminatory education in primary schools, so that the schools would simply be vehicles for filling minds with old information. Education was vital for breaking through the barriers of poverty. The international community must ensure that children were given health, social and educational facilities. International cooperation was very important, and industrialized States should respect their aid commitments. Her delegation was not convinced, she continued, when it was said that the results of globalization were altogether negative. Despite undoubted negative consequences, the vulnerable sectors of the world community would benefit from technological, educational and communication advances.

Despite the important progress made in protecting children’s rights, and despite the ratification of the Convention, the international community still had a long road ahead of it. Child soldiers, traffic in children and their sexual exploitation, and child pornography were all a shame upon humanity. People had profited from exploiting the innocence of children. Mention must also be made of the rights of women, since discrimination against women would invariably have an impact on children: it was, therefore, necessary to create a family environment that would favour the development of children. Most poor countries were experiencing the increasing use of drugs among children and young people. Furthermore, it was truly lamentable that the shame of child soldiers persisted in certain armed conflicts. In Africa, especially sub-Saharan Africa, there had been shocking increases in the cases of AIDS, the consequences of which were proof of the need to educate children about that disease. Equality among the sexes was of prime importance. The international community should not trust laws that merely denounced the situation of the world’s children; indicators were needed to measure the progress that had been achieved.

HIDEAKI KOBAYASHI (Japan) said his Government considered the success of the special session to be of paramount importance, and hoped a common understanding would be reached about efforts to maintain and enhance respect for the rights and welfare of children. Japan had ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1995, and had contributed $1 million annually to UNICEF’s programme on education for girls. It had also committed itself to providing Africa with roughly $857 million over a five-year period in grant assistance in the areas of education, health care and water-supply infrastructure.

He said the problem of children in armed conflict had also been addressed in the Miyazaki Initiative for Conflict Prevention agreed by the Foreign Ministers of the leading industrial States (the “G-8”) in July. The Initiative had established approaches to be taken by the G-8 regarding war-affected children, including putting pressure on those who involved or targeted children in armed conflicts in breach of international standards, and prioritizing assistance for war-affected children in post-conflict reconstruction.

With regard to the commercial sexual exploitation of children, he said his Government was planning to host the Second World Congress Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in December 2001 in Yokohama. That Congress aimed to promote the implementation of the Agenda for Action to eradicate commercial sexual exploitation of children adopted at the First World Congress.

SUN JOUN-YUNG (Republic of Korea) said that, despite encouraging progress and the increase in importance that had been given to children’s rights in national policies and legislation, there remained many obstacles to full implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the World Declaration and the Plan of Action. Around the world, more than 600 million children lived in extreme poverty on less than one dollar a day, 1.2 million children lived with HIV/AIDS, and 13 million had lost their parents to the disease. Furthermore, 250 million children in developing countries were forced to work, many of them in hazardous and exploitative conditions. The special session next year must be an opportunity to improve such distressing situations.

The special session should be based, above all, on the spirit of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, he said. However, due to traditional attitudes and their dependent status, many children were still far from enjoying those rights. The rights-based approach might clash with culture and tradition in some areas. However, the rights of children must be given priority over cultural and traditional singularities. Particular focus was also required on the gap between de facto and de jure rights of children. He added that to fully implement laws and policies, it was essential to strengthen a culture of respect for children’s rights.

Another challenge facing children was globalization, he said. While globalization had contributed to the advancement of children and the promotion of their rights, the uneven distribution of its benefits had driven a wedge between the rich and the poor even deeper, further marginalizing children in developing countries. The Republic of Korea expected significant contributions from all the relevant United Nations agencies and the Bretton Woods institutions in devising those measures. Children and adolescents should be given the opportunity to duly participate in the decision-making process on issues that affected them, as well as to play a role in the development of tolerant, peaceful and democratic societies, he said.

LIONEL FERNANDO (Sri Lanka) said that, in Sri Lankan culture, the family unit was held in sacred esteem, and the child was regarded as a blessing. But the ravages of time on human relationships and societies had caused the erosion of family values and the breaking up of the family. Moreover, there was deterioration in those relationships and in the conditions that should surround and protect a child in its formative years. Sri Lanka felt it was important to make a “comprehensive cultural endeavour” to resuscitate the well-being of families, so that they could serve as units of protection for their children.

In 1990, the principal goal of the World Summit for Children was the adoption of its Declaration on Children, which gave expression to the fundamental belief that every child should be given a better future. A Plan of Action, also adopted at the World Summit, sought to convert such a universal appeal into a universal commitment. The adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989, the World Summit for Children in 1990 and the adoption of General Assembly Resolution 54/93 in 1999 (proposing the convening of the special session in 2001), all served as reminders that States parties to the Convention should evaluate their programmes and plans for the protection and well-being of the child. His Government had established a National Child Protection Authority directly under the supervision of the President of Sri Lanka. As part of that “nation vision”, specific aspects of child care were being handled: compulsory education for children between five and fourteen; national programmes to combat malnutrition and provide immunization; reforms to maintenance laws; and a programme of free and universal health care. A matter of serious concern was the forced recruitment of children by a terrorist group in Sri Lanka. In that regard, he pointed to Sri Lanka’s ratification of the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict at the Millennium Summit this year. In closing, his country urged the special session to give particular attention to poverty alleviation, access to adequate education, access to adequate health care and the overall preservation of the family.

MURARI RAJ SHARMA (Nepal) said that the situation of children in poorer parts of the world remained precarious. Children had become the principal victims of poverty, inequalities and violence. Children in such countries had suffered the negative consequences of exclusive globalization. The sad spectacle of a child in military fatigues toting a gun offered the most horrendous image. Many children had been sacrificed on the altar of greed, hubris or prejudice, which was often anchored to difference in culture or ethnic origin. Girls, in particular, sustained the scars of abuse and violence that prevented them from blossoming into emotionally balanced and caring human beings. The question remained, how was the international community going to get non-State actors to comply with various children’s rights that had evolved?

The level of education and health of parents, as well as the size, economic status and location of the family were some of the elements that had significant bearing on children’s rights and welfare, he said. The situation in cities was generally better than in rural areas, as city dwellers tended to have higher incomes, smaller families and better access to education and health facilities. Children in poverty-stricken rural areas and urban slums were usually worse off. Poor families tended to have a larger family size. A free school-feeding programme, as motivation to the child, and supplemental income for the family would ensure better class attendance, if such a programme could be launched and sustained. Mobile health facilities did help wean people away from the clutches of seers and superstition. Greater investment was needed in education, health and other key social sectors, but it would only work when children-specific development programmes were backed up by sustained economic growth and sustainable development. Strict measures against child abuse and violence would be equally necessary to achieve those objectives.

Protecting children’s rights and promoting their welfare involved a whole range of overarching issues pertaining to nation-building and development, he said. Selective measures alone were not enough. A clean and accountable government making sound policies and using scarce resources prudently was needed. As were: adherence to the rule of law and a fair legal and institutional framework; environmental protection; and, not least, a favourable external environment, together with compassionate development partners who were ready to help less privileged partners in their endeavours.

ULADZIMIR VANTSEVICH (Belarus) said that, in 1990, the leaders of the world had gathered to draft a plan of action aimed at defending the rights of children. In the Millennium Declaration, that commitment had yet again been reaffirmed. The next important event would be the 2001 special session. The summit of 1990 had been the first effective event to further the “child issue” aimed at improving the position of children. Among important achievements since that day had been the almost universal ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Belarus had been one of the first States to sign and ratify that Convention. The force of the instrument had been affirmed in May through the adoption of two additional protocols.

He noted that the preparatory process had to take into account tangible measures taken on a national, regional and international level. The special session reflected everyone’s awareness of the importance of resurrecting the spirit of the World Summit. Belarus had planned a number of events including the publishing of a national report, the preparation for an international symposium and a national children’s forum, a round-table meeting and the general participation of Belarus in the global movement for children.

The aims decided upon in 1990 needed to be renewed, he said, in order to match the requirements of the world of today. The outcome document must be seen as a programme of action for the future. He agreed that the document should be innovative, brief and to the point. However, it had to be broad enough in scope to cover the problems all children face, without exception. There must be provisions dealing with education, the situation of children in armed conflicts, the vulnerability of children in the midst of an AIDS epidemic, their access to health care and the harmful impact of natural disasters. There was less than a year to go until the special session, and success depended largely on how effectively the time that remained was used.

ADIL AL-KHAL (Qatar) recalled that the World Summit had established ambitious goals for the 1990s. The special session should renew the international community’s commitments. Millions of children were born every year, but the majority were born into poverty. It was essential that the international community make a renewed commitment to the goals of the World Summit for Children. It should not allow children to live in such suffering, especially in a world where there were so many resources and so much potential. Great challenges facing the world today included the need to eliminate the gulf between the quality of life of children in different countries. The developing countries lacked the necessary resources, and were having to pay more to service their external debt. Unless the debt burden was alleviated, those countries would not be able to achieve the goals of the Summit in the visible future.

The protection of children suffering from armed conflict was a noble goal. His Government called for children in Arab countries to continue to be able to exercise full rights. It was also necessary to protect children in the occupied Arab territories. Children in Palestine were falling beneath the bullets of the occupation forces and were prevented from having full rights. That kind of thing was going on even as he spoke. His Government was convinced of the need to allow all children to enjoy their legitimate rights. Even when it was established that the primary responsibility lay on the shoulders of national governments, the United Nations was crucial for mobilizing the international community’s resources and mobilizing the resources of poorer countries.

MARIO AGUZZI-DURAN (Venezuela) said he appreciated the Secretary-General’s report on the status of preparations for the special session. The Government of Venezuela believed children merited priority, and a large part of social policy in education, health and nutrition was devoted to young people and children. Venezuelans, he went on, had provided for the duties, human rights and guarantees of all peoples in its new constitution. Moreover, his country had enshrined the equality of gender within the principle of equality and non-discrimination. In his country, there was egalitarian treatment for girls as well as boys.

He took note of the approval of the Comprehensive Law for the Protection of the Child and Young People, which had entered into force on 1 April. This Law was considered by UNICEF as one of the most advanced laws on human rights for children on the American continent. It recognized that children deserved full rights because the child was a person in development with the rights and responsibilities inherent to all human beings. Upon its passing into force, Venezuela had begun to conform its institutions to ensure individual and collective rights of children and adolescents without discrimination as to race, colour, sex, age, language, beliefs, conscience, religion, creeds, culture, political opinion, economic status, social, national or ethnic origin, disability, disease or birth.

Further, with that Law, Venezuela had honoured its international commitments and adjusted its domestic legislation to the principles and norms contained in the International Convention on the Rights of the Child. His country had committed its political will to showing respect for that legislation as a fundamental principle of the co-responsibility of the State and society in Venezuela. He reiterated the regional and international initiatives and projects that Venezuela supported in favour of children. In doing so, he affirmed that his country was a co-sponsor of the draft resolution. In conclusion, he attached high priority to the draft resolution and would work to guarantee the goals the international community expected to achieve.

AMRAIYA NAIDU (Fiji) was inspired by the strides that the United Nations was taking on the rights of children. The Convention on the Rights of the Child was a milestone instrument, one which Fiji had embraced fully while discharging its requisite responsibilities, despite resource and other constraints. The political will to effect positive attitudinal change was evidenced in the accomplishments of the Coordinating Committee on Children, which was a cross-sectoral and interdepartmental body of governmental and non-governmental organizations.

The Government of Fiji appreciated the convening of a special session on children; it hoped that the outcome would engender greater awareness of the plight of children in a global context and provide solutions for the well-being of both present and future generations. There were two Optional Protocols to the Convention, on the participation of children in armed conflict and on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. He agreed that the special session must be action-oriented and innovative, and must aim to position children and children's human rights alongside all fundamental human rights. To achieve that outcome, it was critical to define a meaningful process for the participation of children in the preparatory meeting and in the special session.

It was necessary, he continued, to define the modality that would ensure the optimum participation of children. It should consist of guidelines and procedures for observer-status participation by non-State parties. Fiji urged Member States to let the children directly address the special session of the General Assembly. He believed that, as the international community deliberated on a Culture of Peace in the Assembly, the special session presented the ideal opportunity to build that principle into a culture of human rights, in which the rights of children were an innovative dimension. HADI NEJAD HOSSEINIAN (Iran) said that the international community should seize this unique opportunity to act vigorously and in absolute terms to realize already defined goals. He said that the vision, strategy and objectives adopted by the World Summit needed to be reviewed for possible updating, bearing in mind the priorities and areas to which the United Nations and Member States should devote their resources. What mattered most in the context of updating those goals was respect for the principles of equality and non-selectivity in reviewing the themes and the situations in which children were mostly vulnerable.

Globalization was a two-sided phenomenon, he said, and the mixed effects and impacts of globalization were also vividly seen in the domain of children. The special session should take steps to ensure that the dynamism of globalization was fully exploited to neutralize its negative impacts -- such as sexual exploitation and the spreading of HIV/AIDS -- as well as to fight vigorously against such phenomena. It was also highly important to develop indicators and build national capacities and infrastructures to respond effectively to children’s current needs for protection. At the international level, creating a just and favourable international environment was essential for the success of domestic policies geared to the protection of children.

It was also important to strengthen the institution of the family and family bonds. That was one of the most effective ways to protect children from numerous threats facing them in different societies. The family, as the fundamental unit of society and the natural unit for the growth and well-being of all its members, particularly its children, must be afforded the necessary protection and assistance so that it could fully assume its community responsibilities.

AARON JACOB (Israel) said that nearly 32,000 children under the age of five died each day of preventable causes, totaling nearly 12 million deaths each year. Those were numbers which must mobilize every Member State in an age when we possessed unparalleled ability to prevent disease, malnutrition, poverty, illiteracy, violence and exploitation. Today, the Assembly was renewing its commitment to consider and pursue future action on behalf of children in the coming decade.

In a landmark decision of October 1999, the Supreme Court of Israel, setting a precedent both nationally and internationally, imposed tort damages on a parent who neglected the children in his care by completely estranging himself from them and inflicting severe emotional damage. Although the circumstances were extreme, the decision was indicative of the special sensitivity accorded children’s rights in Israel. The Supreme Court had also condemned resort to corporal punishment against children. It had sent a clear message that the use of force against children was a gross degradation of their human dignity and an infringement on their physical integrity and mental health.

Following Israel’s accession to the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991, the adoption of Israel’s Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty ensured that the rights of the child enjoyed constitutional protection. There had been a steady rise in the number of domestic judicial decisions grounded on the rationale underlying the Convention, voicing and echoing the child’s perspective and his or her right to human dignity, advancing their rights and setting harsher penalties for unlawful treatment of children. However, anachronistic social and traditional norms were still evident in many societies, and the practice of beating children remained widespread. Efforts must continue without respite until the day when every single child was guaranteed the chance to grow in good health, with adequate nutrition and education, and in an environment of peace and security.

MOHAMAD YUSOF AHMAD (Malaysia) said his country was sad to note that, since the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the World Summit on Children, tens of millions of children around the world remained victims of war, poverty, abuse and exploitation. In view of that grave situation, it was urgent that the international community assess the developments since then and formulate future actions and priorities to protect the well-being of children, with the aim of significant human development gains within one generation. Malaysia was deeply concerned by the plight of children affected by armed conflict, and believed that their special needs must be taken into consideration, particularly their physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration.

Another area of concern, he said, was the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, which were quite rampant around the world. His delegation deplored those activities which, in Malaysia, were considered criminal offences. The international community must address those issues and find a solution for them. Poverty was still a major hindrance to social and human development for many developing countries where children were the hardest hit by poverty. It was imperative that development programmes should emphasize the rights and well-being of children, as their development would contribute to the shaping of the future.

RENATO R. MARTINO, Permanent Observer for the Holy See, said that, this past April, the Commission on Human Rights had expressed its concern that the situation of children in many parts of the world remained critical as a result of poverty, inadequate social and economic conditions in an increasingly globalized world, pandemics, natural disasters, armed conflicts, displacement, exploitation, illiteracy, hunger, intolerance, disability and inadequate legal protection. The Catholic Church had always recognized that children were the most precious and, at the same time, the most vulnerable members of the human family, and in need of the greatest protection. The Holy See was an active participant in the elaboration of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and at the World Summit, and, as an Observer, participated with special interest in any discussion involving children at the United Nations.

His delegation hoped that the discussions during upcoming preparatory meetings would centre especially on how to bring peace to situations of armed conflict and violence, end hunger, protect the family, strengthen education, stop discrimination, provide better health care, build stability and maintain security. At the same time, his delegation also saw the need to point out that the rights of children depended on the parents, the family and the entire world community. The promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms could only come from recognition of and respect for the human dignity shared by each and every person.

ARIANE WALDVOGEL, Observer for Switzerland, said that, during the last decade, there had been many developments, some positive and too many negative ones, which had a major impact on the quality of life for children around the world. It was important to incorporate those new developments in the evaluation of the implementation of the Declaration and the Plan of Action. She stressed the importance of policies and approaches being founded on law, inter alia on the rights of the child, the two optional protocols and international legal

instruments. Approaches based on law would enable a more precise and systematic analysis in areas where progress was required. In that connection, it was important to take into consideration the recommendations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict, and of the Human Rights Commission Special Rapporteur on prostitution, pornography and the sale of children.

It was also important to take into consideration all the factors affecting the lack of adherence to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, such as levels of development, socio-economic conditions, demography, gender equality and democracy. It was essential to focus attention on the challenges ahead, including the prevalence of violence against children, violations of the rights of the child in armed conflict, the sexual and commercial exploitation of children, and the direct and indirect disastrous impact of HIV/AIDS on children. Switzerland was committed to the elimination of those injustices and had increased its bilateral humanitarian aid for children.

She also emphasized the need to allow children and adolescents to participate in the decisions that affected their lives -- on a national and international level. She suggested that children could be present during some of the meetings in the special session.

PATRICIA DURRANT (Jamaica), introducing the draft resolution on the Special Session of the General Assembly in 2001 for follow-up to the World Summit on Children, said that in operative paragraph 7 the words “the invitation” should be inserted after “reiterates”, and the word “yet” after “not”. In operative paragraph 14, “Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict” should be substituted by “Special Representative of the Secretary- General on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children”. She informed the Assembly that, since no quorum was present, a new paragraph to the draft would be introduced at a later stage, when action on the draft would be taken.

She announced that Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Guinea, Haiti, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Oman, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Venezuela, Viet Nam and Zambia had joined as co-sponsors of the draft.

She hoped the draft resolution would be adopted by consensus, thus reaffirming the commitment of the international community to “giving every child a better future”.

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