PRESS BRIEFING BY UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES

About half of the 21 million refugees in the world were children, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers, told correspondents this morning at a Headquarters press briefing.

PRESS CONFERENCE ON FIRST SPECIAL SESSION ROUND TABLE

Co-chairs of round table I of the General Assembly’s special session on children –- the first in a series of three interactive debates on the overarching theme of ”Renewal of the commitment and future action for children in the next decade” -- briefed correspondents on the outcome of their debate at Headquarters this morning.  

PRESS CONFERENCE BY UNITED STATES

United States Assistant Secretary for Children and Families, Wade Horn, and other members of the United States' delegation to the special session, briefed correspondents today on their country's commitment to children and their hopes for the session's outcome document.

PRESS CONFERENCE BY NETWORK FOR ELIMINATION OF IODINE DEFICIENCY

Following the launch yesterday at United Nations Headquarters of the Network for the Sustained Elimination of Iodine Deficiency:  A Smart Start in Life, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) sponsored a press conference given by key members of the new network.

PRESS CONFERENCE BY VENEZUELA

At a Headquarters press conference held in conjunction with the General Assembly special session on children, Venezuela’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Luis Alfonso Davila, and the Minister for Education, Aristobolo Izturiz briefed correspondents on their Government's policies and actions geared to children and adolescents.

PRESS CONFERENCE BY UN POPULATION FUND, UN FOUNDATION

There were more than 1 billion children between the ages of 10 and 18, which meant that the decisions made now and in coming years would determine the demographic, economic and political future of the century, correspondents were told at a Headquarters press conference this morning, as the General Assembly's special session on children opened at Headquarters.

PRESS BRIEFING BY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF UNICEF

“Children are not an expense, they are an investment” was the message being sent by children during the current special session of the General Assembly, the Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund, Carol Bellamy, told correspondents this afternoon at Headquarters.

PRESS CONFERENCE BY YOUTH DELEGATES

Two young people selected by the Children’s Forum had just presented that event’s message to the General Assembly’s special session on children, Executive Director of United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Carol Bellamy, informed correspondents at a Headquarters press briefing this morning.

PRESS CONFERENCE BY CHILD RIGHTS CAUCUS

At a Headquarters press conference today on the eve of the start of the United Nations General Assembly special session on children, the United States came under harsh criticism for being one of only two countries in the world -– the second being Somalia -- that has not ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child. 

PRESS CONFERENCE BY NATIONAL CHILDREN’S RIGHTS INSTITUTIONS

The same language, the same passion, and the same sense of what is right for children and what their rights are informed the actions of all the independent national institutions currently meeting in the shadow of the special session of the General Assembly on children, New Zealand’s Commissioner for Children, Roger McClay, told a press conference at United Nations Headquarters this afternoon.