PRESS BRIEFING ON PREPARATORY COMMITTEE FOR CHILDREN'S SPECIAL SESSION

PRESS BRIEFING ON PREPARATORY COMMITTEE FOR CHILDREN'S SPECIAL SESSION

There was a clear international consensus around children, and about building a world fit for them, Patricia Durrant, Permanent Representative of Jamaica to the United Nations, and Chair of the just-concluded meeting of the Preparatory Committee for the Special Session of the General Assembly on Children, told correspondents at the noon press briefing at Headquarters today.

The General Assembly special session, to follow up the 1990 World Summit for Children, will take place from 19 to 21 September.  Ms. Durrant shared the podium with the Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Carol Bellamy.

Ms. Durrant told correspondents that the Preparatory Committee meeting had gone very well.  The current sessions had first undertaken an end-of-decade review, and then heard comments from Member States on their own experiences.  There had been two panel discussions -- one on adolescent development and participation, and one on the girl child.  Then the Committee had discussed the initial draft outcome document for the special Assembly session.

It was the second substantive session of the Preparatory Committee, she explained.  As a consequence of a previous decision, non-governmental organizations, that were not accredited to the Economic and Social Council but had a collaborative association with UNICEF at a national level, were allowed to participate.  This meant the Committee was able to hear from a large number of national non-governmental organizations.

The preparatory process was relatively short, she continued.  The Committee’s third and final week in substantive session would be held in June. However, it was clear that there was a consensus that several challenges must be addressed by the special session.

Clearly it had not yet proven possible to fulfil many of the commitments that were made at the World Summit for Children in 1990, she explained.  The special session in September would, first of all, review the accomplishments of the decade, look at the lessons learned and identify the issues that were still to be addressed.  It would also look at new and emerging issues, such as the HIV/AIDS pandemic, continuing high levels of poverty, low levels of education and limited access to health and nutrition -- all of which affected children and young people.

Ms. Durrant said the Committee’s members and its bureau were very pleased that the meeting had attracted so many high-level delegations from capitals.  At the end of the third substantive preparatory meeting in June, she hoped there would be a document ready for endorsement by the special session.

The UNICEF Executive Director, Carol Bellamy, added that the impending special session would take place following a 10-year process at the regional and country level.  Information on implementation of the 27 goals set in the plan of action from the 1990 World Summit had been received from States over those

10 years.  The United Nations Children's Fund, as a consequence, had data that allowed a proper assessment of achievements and of failures that must be

addressed.  It was a concrete example of where a United Nations gathering had made a difference at the national level.

Asked about the outcome document, Ms. Bellamy said there was a wave of Member State opinion that the outcome document should be as concise as possible. It would have to reflect on the unfinished business of the World Summit, but also take on the emerging issues.  Basic education, early childhood development and adolescent issues were key foci.

She didn’t think the document would be a “soup to nuts” menu, she added.  Nobody wanted that.  Indeed, there were many conventions and agreements in existence, and many commitments from governments that had already been made.  The substance of those did not need to be poured into this document.

Asked about specific references to certain national circumstances in the outcome document, Ms. Durrant explained that it could not address country-specific problems.  It would be specific only in establishing targets for States to achieve.  What she sought was that the various concerns of participants were somehow reflected in the document.

Asked about the funding for any new commitments that might be made, Ms. Bellamy noted that development assistance had declined, particularly for core resources which were very important.  However UNICEF had no intention of reducing the number or activity of its field programmes.

Ms Durrant added that there was to be a high-level intergovernmental meeting on funding for development next year.  The needs of children, and the resources that UNICEF and others needed to help them, would have to be noted and identified within that context.

Asked whether the final document would be more specific and shorter than the draft, Ms. Durrant explained the preliminary document would now be adjusted to take into account the comments that Member States had made in the Preparatory Committee.  Consultations would continue with those States.

Overall there were two major things that must be included, she said. Firstly, it must deal with the unfinished business from the World Summit for Children and the newly-emerging issues.  Secondly, it would have to provide the commitments that heads of State and government must make to ensure that these issues were addressed.  That said, she imagined the final document would indeed be both shorter and more specific than the draft.

Asked to what extent the special session and the remaining preparatory activities would look at children in developed countries, Ms. Durrant said it was extremely important that the document addressed the needs of all children.  There had been a series of regional meetings on the issues, and there would be an all-European (east and west) meeting in Berlin in May.  Developed country concerns from that meeting would certainly be reflected in that document.  The Kingston meeting, held last October, was attended by all the countries of America, so the consensus achieved there represented the concerns of both developed an developing States.

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