SECRETARY-GENERAL URGES DELEGATES TO TAKE UP CHILDREN’S ISSUE SOON, DESPITE SPECIAL SESSION POSTPONEMENT

SECRETARY-GENERAL URGES DELEGATES TO TAKE UP CHILDREN’S ISSUE SOON,

DESPITE SPECIAL SESSION POSTPONEMENT

Following is the text of a statement to the General Assembly today by Secretary-General Kofi Annan regarding postponement of the special session on children:

We will soon be taking a decision on the Summit for Children.  I think if we decide to postpone it for reasons of force majeure, I would want to plead with you, my dear friends, that we keep our concern for children uppermost in our minds.  This is only a postponement, not a cancellation.  The issue is still very much with us.  I think we should stay the course, and adopt a concrete agenda for action for this decade. 

I think at this critical stage we cannot afford to fail our children, or wrangle indefinitely over texts and documents.

The draft outcome document for the special session is very close to being finalized.  I would urge delegates, despite the postponement, that we keep up with that work, and take up the issue as soon as next week.  I think that within a relatively short period, with goodwill and determination, we can have an agreed text.  We are close, and I don't want us to postpone it or relax, just because the meeting is not taking place next week. 

That is my plea. 

Thank you very much.

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