Some 20 years after the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, universal adherence to its two Optional Protocols would lead to the eradication of misuse of children as soldiers and sex workers, “if we do it together”, Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, said at Headquarters today.

The Secretary-General marked today the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, with UNICEF’s new Executive Director, Anthony Lake. The two Protocols — one on prostitution and child pornography, the other on children and armed conflict — have been endorsed by two thirds of all Member States so far.

Presenting the results of two recent independent, peer-reviewed studies at Headquarters today, the Pew Environment Group said that regional fisheries management organizations were failing in their mandated task of regulating fishing on the high seas, with significant loopholes and lax enforcement allowing illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing to continue.

Despite predictions of a modest global recovery in 2010 and 2011 — resulting from rising production and world trade, and a tentative rebound in private consumption and business investment — United Nations economic experts warned that widespread joblessness and large public debt in some States, if not well managed, could mean mediocre economic growth in coming years.

By week’s end, States parties to the landmark 1995 United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement would likely suggest concrete ways to improve management of the world’s key shared fisheries and tackle such pressing problems as over-fishing, over-capacity and the limited ability of developing countries to monitor off-shore coastal zones, a key ocean management official said Wednesday during a Headquarters press conference.

The Security Council held an open debate on intercultural dialogue for peace and security today, where the Secretary-General said the discussion was especially relevant on the eve of the third Global Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations, beginning on Friday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He later left New York to take part in that event.

The World Cup would change the image of the African continent for the better, Wilfried Lemke, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Sport for Development and Peace, said today at a Headquarters press conference where several United Nations agencies highlighted their planned activities for the event.

The Secretary-General landed in Rio de Janeiro early today, ahead of the Alliance of Civilizations, which opens tomorrow. He was expected to see up close Brazil’s progress in eradicating extreme poverty, and to meet later with the families of Brazilian peacekeepers killed in the Haiti earthquake, for whom he was expected to unveil a commemorative plaque.

The International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers is being celebrated at Headquarters today, and to talk about it, the guests at the noon briefing are Alain Le Roy, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, and Susana Malcorra, the Under-Secretary-General for Field Support. Earlier today a wreath-laying ceremony was held to honour fallen peacekeepers, at which the Deputy Secretary-General delivered remarks.

The outstanding resilience of blue helmets in Haiti provided a powerful symbol for the marking of the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers this year, United Nations Secretariat officials said this afternoon. “Haiti tested us to the limit and we showed we have learned from experience and were able to deliver,” Susana Malcorra, Under-Secretary-General for Field Support told correspondents at Headquarters. “It was the best way to pay tribute to the ones we lost,” she added.