Children's Participation in Legislative PROCESS, NEED FOR PROTECTION FROM EFFORTS OF ARMED CONFLICT DISCUSSED IN PREPARATORY COMMITTEE

Preparatory Committee for the 2001
Special Session of the General Assembly
on the Children’s World Summit
11 June 2001
2nd Meeting (PM)





As the Preparatory Committee for the special session of the General Assembly for follow-up to the 1990 World Summit for Children continued its general debate this afternoon, it heard a wide range of views on the priorities facing the international community in improving the situation of children in the world today.

Stressing the importance of child participation, the Administrative State Secretary of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Hungary said his Government had introduced a new model of child participation in preparation of a legislative proposal on opportunities for children and young people this year. The Government had encouraged their participation through children’s and youth organizational structures and a special interactive Web site, where children and young people could create online discussion groups, reflecting their views and ideas on the proposals.

The Head of Department of the Ukranian Ministry of Justice supported the “young people in changing circumstances” theme of the Secretary-General's report, entitled "We the Children", as a whole generation was living in conditions of unprecedented change. However, she was surprised at the lack of attention to the serious changes in the health of children as a result of large-scale technological disasters, including the Chernobyl catastrophe. The search for new child protection strategies in view of the growing factor of the environmental danger should not be limited to natural disasters, for man-made dangers were also great.

Protecting children affected by the scourges of war and armed conflict worldwide, stated Qatar's representative, was a noble goal that required exerting international efforts to prevent their recruitment as soldiers and exploitation. It was also important to secure the right of children to be protected from the effects of economic blockade against their countries. In that regard, he stressed the need for children in the Arab occupied territories to be able to enjoy their rights to life, safety, development and education.

The Deputy Chair of Lebanon's Parliamentary Education Committee also expressed hope that the outcome of the special session would address the problems of those who suffered from wars, conflicts and such massacres as that which took place in Qana, in which aggressors had not considered the guidelines for children and human rights. Lebanese children had witnessed the worst crimes against childhood. The schools, fields and gardens of her country had been mined, and its land was occupied, but the world was taking no action to save the lives of the children of Lebanon.

One area that still needed improvement, noted the representative of World Vision International, was the addition of stronger international mechanisms to protect the rights of children when national governments were either unable or unwilling to protect their children from violence. He supported proposals to strengthen the Committee on the Rights of the Child to investigate threats to children in conflict situations, to include the security of children as a matter for consideration by the Security Council and to improve both monitoring and follow-up action. Ending impunity must move from rhetoric to action if children were to have confidence in the rule of law.

The Director of Child and Adolescent Health and Development, World Health Organization (WHO), said that 23 of the 27 goals to which the international community had committed itself at the World Summit were related to health. The achievement of Summit goals would require investment in and support of health systems. No one would imagine that education would happen without schools, teachers, curricula and books. Similarly, without infrastructure, trained personnel and technology, commitments to provide quality health services would remain empty promises.

Statements were also made this afternoon by the personal representatives of the heads of State and government of Mauritius, South Africa, Bolivia, Japan, Romania and Burundi. In addition, ministers from Gabon and Jordan addressed the Committee, as well as representatives of Rotary International, Kiwanis International and the Breast Feeding Promotion Network of India.

The Preparatory Committee will meet at 10 a.m. tomorrow, 12 June, to hold a panel discussion on the optional protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.


Background

The Preparatory Committee for the special session of the General Assembly for follow-up to the 1990 World Summit for Children met this afternoon to continue its discussion of the report of the Secretary-General entitled, "We the Children: End-decade review of the follow-up to the World Summit for Children" (document A/S-27/3).

The Committee's first substantive session was held from 30 May to 2 June 2000 and was preceded by a two-day organizational session in February 2000, while its second substantive session was held from 29 January to 2 February 2001.

The main objective of the special session, to be held from 19 to 21 September, is to review the implementation of the World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children and the Plan of Action, which was adopted by the World Summit at Headquarters in September 1990. The session will also provide an opportunity for world leaders to renew commitments and consider future action for children.

For further background and a summary of the Secretary-General's report, see Press Release HR/4536 issued this morning.

Statements

LEELA DEVI DOOKUN-LUCHOOMUN, Personal Representative of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Mauritius, said the report provided a thorough analysis of the achievements and shortcomings in the implementation of the outcome of the 1990 World Summit, giving a comprehensive picture of the situation of children all over the world. Having ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, her country had developed a national plan of action in that respect. Progress had been achieved in the areas of health, nutrition, education and improvement of the standard of living. Pre-natal and immunization programmes had been developed in Mauritius, and since 1997, there had been no cases of polio in the country. However, there had been no significant progress in the reduction of infant mortality. National response to HIV/AIDS had been set up before the first case of that disease was even diagnosed in the country. A public education programme had been started, and proper care and support were provided to those infected.

Regarding education, she said it was provided free of charge at the primary and secondary levels. There was no gender discrimination as far as enrolment was concerned. Major reforms were envisioned in the education system in order to improve the quality of education for children from all walks of life and address the disparities between the urban and rural population. Programmes were being introduced to reduce the dropout levels.

In order to create conditions for people of different origins, religious affiliations and cultures to live together in trust, Mauritius had introduced citizens’ education at schools, which included the issues of human rights and created awareness regarding the need to respect other cultures and traditions. An act had been introduced to prevent children from abuse. More severe penalties had been envisioned for sexual abuse of exploitation of children. The act on protection against family violence protected not only women, but children, as well. Her Government was fully committed to the cause of children, who represented the future of the country.

NASSIR ABDULAZIZ AL-NASSER (Qatar) expressed appreciation for the role played by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to advance the situation of children in the world and for the help provided to Member States in elaborating and implementing national plans of action. In his report, the Secretary-General had stressed that despite the promises made at World Summit, achievements were limited on a global scale. Therefore, the international community should exploit the opportunity provided by the special session to renew its commitment to accomplish the unfinished agenda of the Summit and the plan of action for the coming decade to create a world fit for children.

Protecting children affected by the scourges of war and armed conflict worldwide was a noble goal that required exerting international efforts to prevent their recruitment as soldiers and exploitation, he said. He stressed the need to protect Arab children, particularly Palestinian children. He called for Arab children in the Arab occupied territories to be able to enjoy their rights to life, safety, development and education.

He also appealed to the world to secure the right of children to be protected from the effects of economic blockade against their countries, particularly its effects on their health and education. In addition, he strongly condemned every practice that deprived children of their right to enjoy their childhood in security and peace.

THOKO MKHWANAZI-XALUVA, Special Representative of the President of South Africa, said that the report of the Secretary-General was a comprehensive, analytical and useful basis for considering the future agenda for children. In particular, it must be ensured that the future agenda was informed by the recommendations of the report and that children became part and parcel of the wider development process.

South Africa was welcomed back into the international community in 1994, and since then it had worked consistently to ensure that children were visible and occupied a high priority level on the political agenda, she said. The National Programme of Action for Children had been the mechanism for responding to challenges and advancing their best interests into the workings of the public sector. She concurred with the Secretary-General, who had stated in his report that several of the goals of the World Summit were not being met as a result of under-investment and lack of consistent efforts.

Therefore, it was incumbent, she said, for the international community to continue with the unfinished business of the last decade while addressing the new emergent issues. That meant that all strategies for action aimed at alleviating poverty should not merely express an intention to do so, but should be geared towards actual and meaningful delivery of benefits of benefits.

JARMILA MORAVEK DE CERRUTO, Vice-Minister for Gender and Family Issues of Bolivia, said that while the report described the progress achieved in the implementations of the outcome of the World Summit for Children, its most important achievement was the fact that it outlined the future challenges. Fully agreeing with the position of the Rio Group, she said that it was also necessary to report on the progress in her country, which had been achieved despite a difficult economic situation. Standards and policies had been formulated to promote a comprehensive culture of development and protect the vulnerable groups, including children and adolescents. The policies were based on the international conventions, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The educational reform, maternal and children’s healthcare and the national programme for the adolescents and youth were among the Government’s actions, she continued. Based on the principles of the Convention, several laws had been promulgated in Bolivia, recognizing the rights of the children. Among them was the law against domestic violence. Measures were being taken to reduce labour and sexual exploitation of children. In response to the culture of violence, a plan against child mistreatment had been adopted, which included steps for prevention, detection and elimination of offences. Programmes for family assistance, elimination of violence in schools and provision of sexual and reproductive health services were also on the Government’s agenda.

She went on to say that her country enjoyed a low level of armed conflict, but it was not exempt from social chaos. Producers of coca systematically violated human rights, exposing children to irreparable psychological damage. The country was taking steps to overcome the culture of drugs, but a severe economic recession, which had been exacerbated by the phenomenon of globalization, had made it difficult to ensure the rights of the children. Despite the difficulties, the country was determined to overcome the problems, having adopted a programme on the alleviation of poverty.

ANDRAS BODOR, Administrative State Secretary of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Hungary, commended the high quality of the Secretary-General’s report and said the importance of “child participation” could not be emphasized enough. Hungary felt honoured that the preparatory conference with participation of children from various countries of Europe and Central Asia had been held in Budapest. During that conference, the child participants determined their input to the Conference on Children in Europe and Central Asia, which was held in Berlin in May. However, while the existing forms of child participation had improved throughout the last decade, there was still room for improvement, and new models of child participation should be developed, attempting to reach direct communications with children and young people.

He described a model that his Government had applied in the preparation of the legislative proposal on opportunities for children and young people during the current year. It had not only provided an opportunity for children and young people to participate in the preparation of the proposal through their own organizational structures, but also developed a special interactive Web site, where children and young people could create online discussion groups, reflecting their views and ideas on the proposals.

Widespread acceptance of the need to promote the role of parents and families as primary caretakers of children was a great achievement, he said, and he hoped that national policies would give priority to families in their social programmes. His Government had adjusted the tax burden on the basis of the number of family members in order to ensure that families could fulfil their social responsibilities. Hungary was committed to the full implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which provided the framework for both the national and international undertakings to improve the situation of children. The Government had started the work towards ratification of the two Optional Protocols to the Convention as soon as possible. It was also committed to ensuring the highest number of ratifications of the International Labour Organization (ILO) convention on the elimination of the worst forms of child labour.

MAKIKO ARIMA, Personal Representative of the Prime Minister of Japan, said that domestically, Japan had made substantive progress in areas of child and family welfare and universal access to basic education. However, it was facing serious problems, such as child prostitution, child pornography and child abuse, which it was striving to tackle in an urgent and effective manner.

She agreed with the Secretary-General's assessment that in order to achieve the goals that had not yet been met and tackle the problems that emerged, political will was indispensable. The special session would be an important opportunity for the international community to reaffirm its determination to tackle the tasks before it. In her view, the urgent priorities for children were education, particularly for girls; health, including protection from HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases; and protection from violence and sexual exploitation.

Her Government, in cooperation with UNICEF, ECPAT International and the NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child, would be hosting the Second World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in Yokohama this year. The Congress would be significant opportunity for the international community to share experiences and expertise on that serious issue and to boost incentives around the world for further actions. She added that, as part of its contribution to the special session, Japan would contribute approximately $300,000 for organizational expenses.

MARIA PASECHNYK, Head of Department of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, said that the Secretary-General’s report was a comprehensive and analytical document, which allowed one to better understand the situation in the world and determine future steps to protect children’s rights. She fully supported the vision of the document. However, the report did not cover all the real causes of the plight of children in countries with economies in transition. Some of those problems coincided with those in developing countries, but her region was also characterized by the drop in the level of education and healthcare. The system of legal protection was created anew, and families had to adapt to the new socio-economic conditions.

The transitional period had been more painful than expected, she continued. More attention should be given to healthcare, including women's health. The international community should not confine itself to the issues of family planning, safe childbirth and pre-natal care. Instead, a wide range of services was needed.

She said that the theme of the report on young people in changing circumstances was justified, for a whole generation was living in conditions of unprecedented change. However, she was surprised at the lack of attention to the serious changes in the health of children as a result of large-scale technological disasters, including the Chernobyl catastrophe. Enough had been said about the problem, but it was important to recognize that children of Chernobyl had special needs. The factor of the environmental danger required a search of new strategies in protection of children. That should not be limited to natural disasters, for man-made dangers were also great. She also supported increasing the amount of work in healthcare, education, protection of children against abuse, exploitation and violence, and prevention of HIV/AIDS. The task ahead would be resolved increasingly quickly through cooperation and mutual assistance, which required leadership from both governments and civil society.

VICTORIA POPESCU, Personal Representative of the President of Romania, said she was convinced that the review and appraisal, at the national and international levels, of the Summit goals was crucial for setting the future agenda for the protection of the rights of children. She commended the Secretary-General's report for its analytical and factual nature in both evaluating the progress achieved over the last decade and in setting the priorities for the future.

In Romania, she said, the realization of the rights of the child, as enshrined in the Convention, was a strategic objective of all child-related policies and programmes. Increased partnership with civil society and the private sector, among other things, was essential for achieving that goal. After having signed the two optional protocols to the Convention last year during the Millennium Summit, Romania had recently started the ratification process for the protocol related to child pornography. As part of preparations for the upcoming special session, Romania had hosted the regional civil society consultations in Bucharest in April. The outcome document of those consultations represented the contributions of non-governmental organizations in that region in promoting the protection of children.

BAHIA HARIRI, Deputy Chair of the Parliamentary Education Committee of Lebanon, said that her country had always believed in the uniqueness of the human being and gave an example of coexistence between different religions and cultures. Today, Lebanon’s children were asking for restoration of their rights that were being violated by war and aggression. They had witnessed the worst crimes against childhood in their country. The schools, fields and gardens of her country had been mined, and its land was occupied, but the world was taking no action to save the lives of the children of Lebanon.

In the new age of globalizaton, she was disappointed by the fall of the universality that she believed in, she continued. How could Lebanon give hope to its people if globalization had eliminated borders and discarded identity and privacy? Under new conditions, her country was requesting the support of the international community in order to reveal the good will of the strong versus the weak. In preparation for the special session in September, she looked forward to the declarations, which would bring hope to those who suffered from wars, conflicts and such massacres as the massacre of Qana, where aggressors had not considered the guidelines for children and human rights.

Although her country had witnessed all types of destruction, occupation and aggression, it had been able to reconstruct what had been damaged, she said. Lebanon gave the world an example of great national will. Caring for children came as a priority in her country’s development. A large part of the country’s budget went towards children’s education, health and social affairs, as well as the care of children victims of landmines and those who had lost their parents during war. She hoped the developing countries would not be treated as experimental fields for researches and ideas. Even though they were consumers of technologies, they were producers of family values where children were sacred.

She concluded that she believed in the concern of States over the fate of children. Recently a coordinating meeting had taken place in Beirut with the participation of Arab organizations in order to determine a united Arab position on children. She hoped that the Arab point of view would be taken into account in preparing a final text on children.

ANGELIQUE NGOMA, Minister of Family and Women's Condition of Gabon, said that her country had taken an active part in the World Summit and had taken stock of the progress made in the country. In relation to HIV/AIDS, the Government, with the support of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), was undertaking national strategies to improve its capabilities to deal with the epidemic. She would have liked the Secretary-General's report to have had given greater importance to the issue of children orphaned by AIDS.

Education was important in Gabon and the Government had implemented a two-fold strategy to ensure greater access to education, she said. The issue of street children also deserved to be examined in greater detail. With regard to child victims of sexual exploitation and trafficking, Gabon was working with the ILO and UNICEF on ways to tackle that issue. Despite national efforts, the issue required greater efforts at the international level.

Due to the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, she said that Gabon had faced an increase in flow of refugees. The education of refugee children was one aspect of cooperation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). If Gabon wished to maintain good neighbourly relations in the region, assistance from the donor community was required to address the difficulties posed by the influx of refugees.

HANS TROEDSSON, Director, Child and Adolescent Health and Development, World Health Organization (WHO), said that 23 of the 27 goals to which the international community had committed itself at the World Summit were related to health. While those goals had guided child health efforts for a decade, progress had been mixed. The WHO was pleased by the increased emphasis in the outcome document on completing the unfinished child survival agenda.

All children and adolescents, he said, should have means and opportunity to develop their full potential. Children had the right to appropriate quality healthcare, and their families must have access to information and support. Adolescents had the right to opportunities to acquire the skills, information and services they needed to be physically and emotionally healthy as they assumed adult roles. Success in global efforts to combat HIV meant investing in adolescent health and development.

The achievement of goals for mortality reduction, he noted, would require investment in and support of health systems. No one would imagine that education would happen without schools, teachers, curricula and books. Similarly, there was a need for global commitment to improve health systems that were within the reach of the poor and that would provide quality public health services. Without infrastructure, trained personnel, technology, functional equipment and workable facilities, commitments to provide quality health services would remain empty promises.

JPSEPH NDAYISABA, Principal Councellor of the President’s Office on Social and Cultural Questions and Personal Representative of the President of Burundi, said that he greatly appreciated all the initiatives in favour of children. His country was implementing its commitments on children, establishing relevant structures and introducing national legislation in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Training and information on the rights of children were being provided to the country’s officials, and important national policies and plans had been introduced.

However, as a result of the conflict, the condition of children had not improved, but deteriorated in the country, he said. Due to the displacement of large numbers of population and the drought, the problems of homelessness and malnutrition had increased, and a number of school dropouts had significantly grown.

The Government was not giving up its efforts, however. An inter-ministerial commission on the implementation of the outcome of the Summit for Children had been established in response to the large-scale problems, and a vaccination campaign had been undertaken in the country. A programme to reintroduce street children to society was underway. The Government had also undertaken identification of all vulnerable children, and more than half of the data had already been collected. Children were the main victims of conflict, and it was necessary to provide them with protection on the institutional level. His Government was committed to ensuring a decent life for the children of the country.

TAMMAM AL-GHOUL, Minister of Social Development of Jordan, said that it was important to find a common bond among the countries trying to improve the position of children. She thanked the Secretary-General for his complete report and added that the World Summit for Children had made children a priority. Through its ratification of international instruments, Jordan had reaffirmed its deep belief in the importance of human rights. A national committee on children had been created in the country, and a group of partners had been set up to follow up on the Summit and consider the situation of children. The aim was to discover gaps and omissions and to recognize the fresh challenges in relation to children. The group was also considering the need to ensure the rights of children and to deal with urgent issues.

The report of the Secretary-General showed that progress had been achieved in the past 10 years, but the achievements had not fully met the expectations. Poverty was one of the main reasons for such a situation. The lack of resources available to developing States prevented them from embarking on sustainable development, and she appealed to the international donors to face the burden of the young societies in relation to children.

The information and technological gap, which had been pointed by the Secretary-General, also presented a problem, she said. Despite the shortage of resources, her country’s Ministry of Education gave priority to the technological equipment of schools. Jordan also believed that it was necessary to give priority to the issue of child suffering, caused by sanctions, blockades and armed conflicts. That was a case of children living in Palestine, for example. She hoped that consensus would be reached regarding the goals to be achieved regarding protection of children all over the world.

KARL DORNING, World Vision International, said that for his organization, with work in more than 90 countries, the Convention on the Rights of the Child was more than a framework. It was a practical tool to help improve the lives of children and families. In Myanmar, for example, the organization had worked with children and parents from disadvantaged communities to develop street theatre and education materials concerning the Convention and advocating for recognition of the rights of children. Based on the organization's experience, he urged those present to integrate the plan of action from the special session with implementation of the Convention.

In August, the organization would release the results of new research on violence against children, he said. It would demonstrate the importance of implementing national laws to protect the rights of children, as well as the importance of working with children, their families and communities to stop violence. He was pleased that many of the organization's recommendations were included in the draft outcome document.

One area that still needed improvement, he said, was the addition of stronger international mechanisms to protect the rights of children when national governments were either unable or unwilling to protect their children from violence. He supported proposals to strengthen the Committee on the Rights of the Child to investigate threats to children in conflict situations, to include the security of children as a matter for consideration by the Security Council and to improve both monitoring and follow-up action. Ending impunity must move from rhetoric to action if children were to have confidence in the rule of law.

SYLVAN BARNET, Rotary International, highlighted Rotary's efforts on behalf of child immunization and its ability to mobilize volunteers to ensure a polio-free world. The role of the private sector, as reflected in the activities of NGOs such as Rotary International, was instrumental in achieving the goals set by the World Summit. He urged participants to recognize the significant contributions of NGOs to the welfare of the world's children and to utilize those organizations as partners in implementing the objectives of the Summit.

Through its community-based networks worldwide, Rotary was the volunteer arm of a global partnership dedicated to eradicating polio, he said. In addition to raising funds, Rotary volunteers assisted in vaccine delivery, social mobilization and logistics in cooperation with the national health ministries and global partners. Rotary's volunteer efforts were instrumental in the eradication of polio from the Western Hemisphere and the Western Pacific Region, which were certified polio-free in 1994 and 2000 respectively.

One of the primary goals of Rotary's volunteer efforts was social mobilization and immunization, he said. Social mobilization efforts were what made national immunization days successful. Rotarians prepared and distributed a variety of mass communication tools to get the information about polio immunization to people cut off from the mainstream by conflict, geography or poverty. Over 1 million men and women of Rotary had donated their time and personal resources to help immunize nearly 2 billion children during national immunization days throughout the world.

ANITA ISLAM, of Kiwanis International, said that she was an eighth grade student from Queens, New York. The organization she represented was serving children of the world in 74 nations. Kiwanis family’s Young Children Priority One Programme addressed issues ranging from prenatal care and immunization of young children to education of parents in order to prevent such injuries as shaken baby syndrome. Kiwanis family members were involved in educational institutions throughout the world to assist children in developing self-esteem, reaching their academic potential and cultivating leadership skills through hands-on community service projects.

Her club, comprised of students ages 12 to 14, had made a difference both in their community and in the world, she said. They had helped the needy, the elderly, disabled persons and youth. Her club had received recognition for giving help to the Special Horizon School in Ghana, to flood victims in Mozambique and for donations to the Kiwanis Family’s Worldwide Service Project in partnership with UNICEF to address the scourge of iodine deficiency disorders.

JAGDISH C. SOBTI, of the Breast Feeding Promotion Network of India, said that his organization provided education and information to parents, caregivers and families to promote early childhood care for development and to provide support through the community for exclusive breast-feeding of infants until the age of six months. It was important to ensure optimal children’s health and nutritional status for learning. Breast-feeding led to reduced occurrences of anaemia and provided good nutrition early in life. He emphasized the need to strengthen maternity benefits in many countries and to make available child-care services for working women. The outcome of the special session should give priority to such issues.






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