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11 April 2000
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Commission on Human Rights
56th session
11 April 2000
Evening
Chairman of Working Group on Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child
Pornography, Special Rapporteur on Same Subject, Address Commission
The Commission on Human Rights this evening continued its debate on the rights of the child and heard statements on a variety of issues including trafficking in children, sexual exploitation of children, child labour, child detention, children in armed conflicts and promoting the rights of the girl child.
Country delegations spoke about measures taken to promote and protect children’s rights. The important link between education of children and the development of nations was stressed. The effect of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on children was also detailed.
Botswana urged that prolific speeches and table-thumbing manifestations in condemnation of the massive acts of violations of the rights of children all over the world must be replaced by concrete action.
Jorge Ivan Mora, the Chairman-Rapporteur of the Working Group on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, said the Working Group had found that today, it was not only developing countries' children who were sold, trafficked or whose organs were sold to satisfy voracious international criminals. Crimes against children transcended boundaries. In fact, it was the third most lucrative crime after arms and drugs trafficking.
Ofelia Calcetas-Santos, the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, said that this year, her report focused on domestic violence in the context of her mandate; if cases of children who were drawn into commercial sexual exploitation were directly or indirectly linked or could be traced back to the child's familial situation.
The following delegations addressed the Commission: Pakistan, Portugal (on behalf of the European Union and countries associated with it), Botswana, Poland, Guatemala, El Salvador, China, Senegal, Bangladesh, Ecuador, the United States, Norway, Indonesia, Italy, the Russian Federation, Romania, India and Argentina.
The Commission resumes its plenary at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 12 April, when it will hold a special dialogue on poverty and its effect on human rights. It will resume its debate on the rights of the child at 3 p.m. and is scheduled to hold extended meetings until midnight.
Rights of the Child
Under this agenda item, there is a report of the Secretary-General (E/CN.4/200070) on the status of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The report notes that as of 5 December 1999, 191 countries had ratified or acceded to the Convention. A list of States that has ratified or acceded to the Convention and the dates of their signatures, ratification or accession appears in the annex to the report.
There is a report of the Secretary-General (E/CN.4/2000/69) on the abduction of children from northern Uganda. The report contains related information received from the Government of Sudan and several international organizations and non-governmental sources. These sources accuse the Lord's Resistance Army of carrying out systematic attacks on the civilian population, abducting thousands of children and forcibly recruiting them into their ranks. The Sudanese Government's position is that the evil habit of abducting and using children for military purposes is unknown in Sudan but is a well-known custom in Uganda.
There is a report (E/CN.4/2000/74) by the Working Group on a draft optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on involvement of children in armed conflicts on its sixth session. The report includes information on the organization of the session, general discussion and the consideration of particular issues and drafting proposals including the issues of non-State actors, compliance, national implementation, international cooperation and assistance, enforced or compulsory recruitment, participation in hostilities, voluntary recruitment and military schools. The report also contains notes on the adoption of the draft optional protocol and particular views expressed by some delegations. The countries expressing particular views on the issues are Cuba, France, Denmark, Sweden and Colombia. The observers of UNICEF and ICRC also express particular views.
There is a report (E/CN.4/2000/75) of the Working Group on the question of a draft optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. The Chairman-Rapporteur is Jorge Ivan Mora. The report consists of information on the organization of the session, general statements and a discussion on the draft optional protocol. The optional protocol expresses grave concern at the significant increase in international trafficking of children and the widespread practice of sex tourism to which children are particularly vulnerable. There was concern at the growing availability of child pornography on the Internet and other evolving technologies. Efforts are needed to raise public awareness to reduce consumer demand for the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. It is important to strengthen global partnerships among all actors and improve law enforcement at a national level.
There is a note verbale (E/CN.4/2000/128) dated 3 February 2000 from the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Iraq to the United Nations Office at Geneva addressed to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, on the rights of the child. The note consists of a study on the effects of the embargo on children and women in Iraq and includes statistical data on the total number of deaths due to the economic embargo, mortality in the under and over 5 categories and the incidence of low birth weight as recorded at health institutions during the relevant period.
There is a report of the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution, and child pornography, Ofelia Calcetas-Santos (E/CN.4/2000/73), which notes, among other things, that a large number of young people who enter into prostitution have run away from or have been thrown out of intolerable home environments where they may have been physically, sexually or emotionally abused; that evidence suggests an association rather than a direct causal link between prostitution and childhood physical and sexual abuse; that there should be intensive campaigns to educate the public on the rights of children; that sex education in schools should teach children not only to understand their bodies and sexual development, but also that they have ownership over their bodies and that not even close family members can touch them in certain ways; that the situation of the rights and responsibilities of members of the extended family must be examined, particularly those of step-parents; and that the issue of domestic violence must be brought into the open and be the subject of thorough study and research.
There is an Addendum 1 that summarizes a mission by the Special Rapporteur to Belgium and the Netherlands on the issue of commercial sexual exploitation of children which notes, among other things, that the situation there is similar to that observed in other developed countries but very different from that observed in the developing world; that children in these two countries do not enter prostitution as a result of dire poverty and as a last resort for survival, but as an escape from violence, abuse, and neglect in their homes. Of particular concern is the extent to which the system of protection for refugees is being abused, the report adds; children are being trafficked into both countries, especially Belgium, for prostitution and other purposes.
An Addendum 2 reviews a visit by the Special Rapporteur to Guatemala and recommends, among other things, that both the Children and Adolescents' Code and an adoption law should be adopted and enforced without further delay; that adoptions should be carried out only by State bodies staffed by highly qualified professionals; that when a certificate of abandonment is being examined, poverty should not be accepted as a reason for a woman to give up her child, and that every effort should be made to keep the child within the family and within its ethnic group; that ongoing monitoring should be done of children adopted and taken out of the country; that greater efforts should be made to deal with the problems of street children and drug addiction; and that the extensive occurrence of incest, especially the practice in some communities where the father took his daughter's virginity, must be addressed by the Government as a matter of priority.
An Addendum 3 describes a mission by the Special Rapporteur to Fiji. It concludes, among other things, that the escalating number of street children; drug, alcohol and substance abuse by children; sexual violence, including incest, suffered by children; and a dependency upon tourism indicate, despite an absence of hard data, that there are nefarious practices against children in the country, and that the Government should implement legislative reform and formulate policies for the protection of children. Fiji should mainstream child protection throughout Government programmes and activities; and should educate the general public on child rights. The Rapporteur notes she is convinced that children in Fiji are being commercially exploited sexually, both by local and foreign abusers, and that there is an urgent need for the Government to address the issue while it is still early enough to institute both preventive and remedial actions; she also contends that non-commercial sexual abuse must be accorded urgent attention, especially that within the family.
Statements
JORGE IVAN MORA, the Chairman-Rapporteur of the Working Group on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, said that he would offer no technical introduction to the report but would offer a few useful ideas to stimulate a debate on the subject. When the Working Group started its work in denouncing the violation of children in the most atrocious manner, many had refused to accept the reality of these crimes and the responsibility of all to stop them. It was feared that as in many human rights instruments, negotiations would last for years and years. However, as the reports started to come in, the reality of these crimes led to increased support and the mobilization of public opinion. The point of the report was not to single out any specific countries. The Working Group had gained a greater consciousness and found that today it was not only developing countries' children who were sold, trafficked or whose organs were sold to satisfy voracious international criminals. Crimes against children transcended boundaries. In fact, it was the third most lucrative crime after arms and drugs trafficking.
These crimes were a plague that affected mankind as a whole and could only be compared with what had happened with AIDS in the last decade. The responsibility of the international community was required and efforts had to be re-doubled, which was the purpose of the instruments propped up by the Working Group. The report represented an importance advance and a challenge for all governments. This document was a careful and fragile compromise, but it belonged to everyone, and everyone was responsible for cherishing this delicate consensus. It was an important tool and demonstrated the political will to wipe out these crimes against children.
OFELIA CALCETAS-SANTOS, Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, said that this year, her report focused on domestic violence. Throughout her research into the issue of sale and commercial sexual exploitation of children, it was apparent that the role of a most fundamental catalyst, the family, needed to be examined. She had focused on the family in the context of her mandate; if cases of children who were drawn into commercial sexual exploitation were directly or indirectly linked or could be traced back to the child's familial situation. Previously, not enough research had been undertaken considering children regarding domestic abuse. Available data pertained more often than not to the girl child; boys were also at risk of abuse from members of their own family, and at equal risk of being drawn into prostitution and pornography. The report included abuses ranging from physical and sexual abuse to maltreatment and neglect. As well as examining the nature of these abuses, she had considered the profile of the perpetrators of this abuse.
The Special Rapporteur accounted for her country visits to Belgium, the Netherlands, Guatemala, Fiji and Morocco. The report on Belgium and the Netherlands followed suspicions that Marc Dutroux was part of an organized network of paedophiles that operated throughout Northern Europe, and the extent to which children were trafficked into and through Belgium and the Netherlands. The report on Guatemala investigated the claims of illegalities within the system of inter-country adoption and the extent to which Guatemalan children were at risk of sexual exploitation. The report on Fiji was precipitated by reports that Fiji and other Pacific Islands were becoming popular alternative destinations to child sex tourists. The report on Morocco was conducted in a candid dialogue on the concerns of her mandate and would be presented to the Commission at its fifty-seventh session.
SYED SHARIFUDDIN PIRZADA (Pakistan) said that despite the best intentions of the world community for the improvement of the situation of children, they continued to suffer in all parts of the world. Millions were denied their childhood, had to forego even basic education, were forced to work, become combatants and para-combatants in armed conflicts and were trafficked and sexually exploited. Poverty was the leading cause of denial of the rights of the child. In 1997 Pakistan embarked on a landmark project to combat child labor in the soccer ball industry in the city of Sialkot. Three years on, child labor in Sialkot's soccer ball industry was mostly history. However, there was a negative side to the picture - Pakistan's share of the American soccer-ball market dropped from 65 to 45 per cent between 1996 and 1998 since buyers who wanted certification of the balls' adult-only workmanship were unwilling to pay for it.
Nevertheless, the Government was working to replicate the soccer ball initiative in other industries. It was also examining the possibility of ratifying International Labor Office Convention 182 on the Elimination of Worst Forms of Child Labor. A national Plan of Action was in its final stages of preparation. The components of the plan consisted of raising awareness of the problem of child labor, making child labor a cognizable offence, documenting child abuses and exploitation of child labor, making primary education compulsory, providing economic incentives to families to send children to school, and extending the social security network.
ALVARO MENDONCA E MOURA (Portugal), speaking on behalf of the European Union and associated States, said that the EU welcomed the work done by the Committee on the Rights of the Child in monitoring the application of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. A very important tool for the improvement of the implementation of the Convention was providing orientation to States on its application and for the realization of the rights set forth therein. The Committee on the Rights of the Child in cooperation with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights had organized a meeting with the objective of highlighting the major achievements and constraints in the implementation of the Convention and identifying measures needed in the future. The EU attached special importance to the protection and promotion of the rights of the girl-child and called upon all governments to actively fight systematic discrimination against girls, evaluate the impact of governmental programmes on girls' rights, educate women, men, girls and boys to promote girls’ status, ensure equal access to education by girls and boys and develop gender-sensitive school curricula.
Concerning children in conflict with the law, the EU called upon all governments to ensure that: deprivation of a child's liberty was to be used only as a last resort, the conditions of detention should be in conformity with the Convention, the death penalty should never be imposed on offenders under the age 18, and each child deprived of liberty should be treated humanely. The EU strongly recommended that all governments which had not already done so ratify International Labor Office Conventions 138 and 182 on child labor. Regarding HIV/AIDS, the EU called upon the international community, the UN system, States and non-governmental organizations to join efforts to curb this epidemic. Portugal also brought up issues concerning children and the right to education, the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and the involvement of children in armed conflicts. The EU noted that the non-governmental organizations’ community had played a pivotal role in creating an awareness for the violations of the rights of the child in situations of armed conflict and for mobilizing the world's public opinion for this cause. The EU strongly hoped that the draft optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child became a tool for the protection of children in situations of armed conflicts and called for its early adoption.
T. R. DITLHABI OLIPHANT (Botswana) said that the Commission had been presented with horrific instances of violations of children's rights throughout the world in both thematic reports and the reports of Special Rapporteurs. Members had read with disbelief about varying forms of exploitation of children, from unacceptable labor standards to trafficking in and sale of children, to the use of children in prostitution and exploitation and abuse of refugee children. The use of children as instruments of war and in conflicts was a crime against humanity, which condemned a whole generation. The Commission on Human Rights was indebted to the children of Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Rwanda, Burundi, Angola, Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan, Kosovo, Colombia and many others who were victims of civil and internecine wars. Prolific speeches and table-thumbing manifestations in condemnation of the massive acts of violations of the rights of children all over the world must be replaced by concrete action.
Concern was expressed about the growing number of displaced persons, especially in Africa. These displaced persons, who consisted mainly of women and children between the ages of 2 and 15, were victims of political and socio-economic destabilization. The scourge of HIV/AIDS had also given birth to a new form of child victims who had become orphans as a result of a triple tragedy of losing both parents and other members of their families through the disease.
IRENA KOWALSKA (Poland) affirmed that Polish children constituted a very important group of society due to the fact that one out of four Poles was under 18. The State and the family accorded to children the highest possible priority. Parents and society invested as much as possible in children with a view to develop their capabilities. They were protected by legislative, administrative, social and educational means from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, maltreatment and exploitation, trafficking and sexual abuse. Since January 2000, a new act establishing an Ombudsman for children's rights had been in force. It would undertake the measures which would protect the child from violence, cruelty, abuse, demoralization and other forms of exploitation.
In many countries, children's life was far from what one would like to see. Instead of ensuring full and harmonious development of children and shaping friendly family environment of love and acceptance around them, the very notion of welfare was unknown and their rights were violated. At the end of the century, war remained one of the principal obstacles to the enjoyment of human rights and to the realization of the rights of all children who were involved in the armed conflicts and were the primary victims.
VICTOR HUGO GODOY (Guatemala) said that the harsh reality of children as described by the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography was of considerable concern for the Government and should be of equal concern for the Guatemalan society as a whole. Measures taken so far by the Government had failed to reverse the reality of children in the country. The Government intended to give priority to drafting a law on adoptions and reiterated its willingness to ratify the Hague Convention on Adoption as well as several other international instruments relating to children, including the optional protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Other steps expected to be taken shortly to address the needs of children included a plan against the sexual exploitation of children, the setting up of a child police unit, sensitizing policemen to the problems children faced and introducing sweeping educational reforms.
MARIO CASTRO GRANDE (El Salvador) said that his country condemned all forms of exploitation of children, including the recent phenomenon of sex tourism. The number of children excluded because of poverty was increasing in many countries because of a lack of satisfactory health, educational and nutritional services. In El Salvador, 46 per cent of the population was made up of children under 18 years and because of that the Government was paying special attention to organize the civil society which was dealing with the protection of children. In addition, national legislation had been put in place with the aim of protecting and promoting the rights of children. Among the legal instruments were the family code and family procedural code, and the law against domestic violence.
Salvadorian school attendance had been increased by 35 per cent while infant mortality was reduced by 30 per cent. The Government believed that the best way of protecting the rights of the child was through the adoption of peace and a non-violent culture by the society. It was also preparing itself to join the international community in observing the decade of peace and non-violence which would start next year. The Government was also satisfied by the adoption by the Working Group on children and armed conflict of an optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
SUN ANG (China) said there were more than 300 million children living in China, covering one-fifth of the world's total number of children. Since the Convention on the Rights on the Child became effective in China, a complete legal system related to children's subsistence, protection and development had been created through the establishment of new laws and the amendment of existing ones. The legal system, with the Constitution as the core, was composed of a series of laws such as the Law on the Protection of Minors, the Law on the Health Care of Mothers and Infants, the Law on the Protection of the Handicapped, the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Women, the Adoption Law, the Law on Compulsory Education and the Labour Law. The Framework of Children's Development Programme had been implemented and set forth ten objectives based upon the national situation of China, outlining specific measures in order to make operable the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
There was still much to achieve as 40 million people in China lived in poverty, one-third of them children. Specific projects had been undertaken such as Hope Project and the Spring Bud Programme. In order to give a complete presentation on China's implementation of the Convention, the Government had submitted its initial and second reports to the relevant UN body. The preparation of the third report was underway.
MAMADOU MOUSTAPHA LOUM (Senegal) said that a decade after the entry into force of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the situation of children around the world remained extremely worrying. Despite growing recognition of the need to protect children, experience and daily practice showed that they remained disadvantaged and in certain cases abandoned to themselves. In Africa, the situation of children was further compounded by economic, social and cultural constraints, armed conflicts and humanitarian crises.
The debt burden, the significant decrease in official development assistance, insufficient national resources and declining foreign investment impeded developing countries' efforts to ensure respect for the Convention. Of particular concern was child labour, the sale and prostitution of children and child pornography, alongside illiteracy, diseases, hunger and disabilities. The international community must adopt all the necessary measures to protect children from these plagues and to enhance cooperation in order to better prevent, identify and prosecute those who violated the rights of children.
SUFIUR RAHMAN (Bangladesh) said that each year 3 million children died from curable diseases. During the last decade 2 million children died, 2 million were wounded, 12 million were made homeless and 10 million were left to psychological traumas of wars and conflicts. It was time to ponder on what went wrong since the World Summit for Children in 1990 and what should be the future strategy. The right to education stood out among all the rights of the child. However, going by the current trend, global access to primary education was not assured. The poor developing countries were left alone in their endeavours to provide basic primary education to their children, as the total bilateral aid for education from the OECD countries had declined. In Bangladesh, education got the highest allocation in the budget, primary education was compulsory and free.
Bangladesh had formulated a National Policy on Children in order to harmonize Government action to protect the interests of the child. A high-level National Children Council, with representations from all relevant Ministries, non-governmental organizations and child welfare activists was responsible for monitoring the enforcement of legislative measures for the protection of child rights. Collaboration between the public and private sector had resulted in some significant improvements in the overall situation of children in Bangladesh, infant mortality had declined and six out of seven children were now under the coverage of the Extended Programme of Immunization. Bangladesh was committed to reduce child labour and the garment sector was free from child labour.
JOSE VALENCIA (Ecuador) said that his country's devotion to the promotion and protection of children had been manifested in many instances which involved children, including its advocacy for the inclusion of a clause in the resolution concerning children on the right to identity what was essential to them. The Government had been combating violence involving children which took many forms within the society. Violence against children required special attention. Ecuador viewed with satisfaction the adoption of the optional protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child pertaining to children and armed conflicts, and the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.
Ecuador noted and appreciated the comments expressed by many delegations on the importance of establishing coherent international legislation on children. However, international legislation should be consistent in its content in order to obtain the desired goals of the international community. In all cases, the best interest of the child should be primordial. States were urged to accede to the two optional protocols to the Convention so the protection and promotion of children's rights could be strengthened.
NANCY RUBIN (The United States) said that this had been a remarkable year for children and the international community. The International Labour Organization had adopted the Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour and the international community had agreed on two optional protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child which addressed the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography as well as children and armed conflict. This was a victory for the children of the world, especially for the tens of millions of them who were still forced to work in conditions that shocked the conscience and haunted the soul.
Millions of young people were forced to become soldiers in conflicts they barely comprehended, or were indentured and enslaved to pay family debts; or were made to work in extremely unsafe conditions. There were some 1.2 billion people around the world who lived in deep and bitter poverty, half of them children. In developing countries, some 250 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 had to work outside the home and few had the chance to go to school. Sadly, not all countries appreciated how intimately education was tied to a nation's development. Some did not even require universal primary school education. In Africa, every day some 8,500 children were infected with AIDS and another 30,000 died from illness, neglect and assault. But war was the most vile destroyer of youth. UNICEF estimated that two million young people had died in violent conflicts in the past decade, while another six million had been injured.
LARS SIGURD VALVATNE (Norway) said that the Norwegian Government had consistently sought to advance the opportunity for children and young people to participate in the development of society in frameworks such as the Youth Forum for Democracy. Norway was concerned about the great number of reservations to the two optional protocols, contrary to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Convention, the 'Oslo-challenge' was launched seeking to develop a resource manual to assist in reporting and examining issues relating to children and the media. The delegation of Norway expressed concern at the number of children affected by armed conflicts; focus was needed to improve the protection of children in situations of armed conflicts. Mobilization at the regional level and through non-governmental organizations was important to give attention to children in situations of armed conflict.
Norway was concerned about the continuing discrimination against girls, within and outside the family environment, with regard to access to education and health care. There were approximately 250 million child-workers in the world working under appalling and unacceptable conditions. The issue of child labour was a complex and multi-faceted problem. To overcome child labour it was necessary to see poverty eradication, income-earning measures for poor families and the development of educational opportunities in an overall context.
BALI MONIAGA (Indonesia) said that the increased marginalization of developing countries and its negative impact on the safety and welfare of children was an important aspect which needed to be discussed during the preparatory process for the Special Session. The completion of the elaboration of the two optional protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child was welcomed. In Indonesia there were no problems regarding the minimum age for children in armed conflicts and the delegation agreed that the minimum age should be raised from 15 years to 18 years. The Indonesian delegation expressed concern at the global problem of child labour, a major challenge in the field of human rights for an international community professing its profound concern for the rights of children. Indonesia was committed to implementing all aspects of the ILO Convention Against the Worst Forms of Child Labour and was taking necessary steps at the national level and within the judicial system.
In many situations, Indonesia was constrained by the economic crisis from which the country was struggling to emerge. Sizeable resources were devoted to improve education and provide health care, guided by the National Plan of Action on the implementation of the World Declaration on the survival, protection and development of children. Complementing this effort would be the activities of 79 non-governmental organizations dealing with the protection of the rights of the child, in the establishment of an independent National Commission on Child Protection.
CLAUDIO MORENO (Italy) said that during the Working Group's debate on the optional protocol on children in armed conflict, Italy had joined the general consensus concerning the minimum age for the participation of children in armed conflict. This said, Italy believed that an authentic interpretation would have to be given in due course to the word direct contained in article one of the protocol, notably in the phrase "to ensure that members of their armed forces who have not attained the age of 18 do not take a direct part in hostilities". Italy requested that this concern be reflected in the report of the Commission's session.
ANDREI NIKIFOROV (the Russian Federation) said that for the first time in history a virtual bill of rights for children had been established. The State had a responsibility to provide for children the right to life, a name and citizenship, and the protection of their rights in armed conflicts, in refugee camps and in inner cities. More than 65 per cent of victims in conflicts were civilian and half of these were children. In the final analysis, the best way of protecting children was to prevent conflicts, or to settle them before they developed into armed conflicts. The Russian Federation expressed disappointment that the Working Group had not fully ensured the safety of children in armed conflicts; there should be a universal age limit for recruitment into armed conflicts.
It was essential to protect children and help them fulfill their potential. The Russian Federation had undertaken several legislative acts such as the Federal Law adopted in 1998 establishing the objectives and parameters of the protection of the rights of the child. The Government had taken several legislative steps to ensure the safety of children without supervision, in the identification of drop outs and children with no fixed abode. This work was conducted in accordance with the Federal Law. Despite the economic situation, Russia was hoping to supply social support to the most needy, particularly children who needed State assistance, through programmes such as Children of the North, Children of Russia etc. The image and the development of the next century would be determined by how the children of today were protected. They were supposed to be better, wiser and smarter that their parents' generation. The responsibility to achieve this had to be undertaken now.
ANTON PACURETU (Romania) commended the work at the UN level in further developing the normative basis aimed at strengthening the capacity of response, evaluation and integration of the rights of the child in the overall human rights procedures and mechanisms. Romania encouraged the early adoption of the two optional protocols on children in armed conflict and on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. To be effective, the international measures should be accompanied at the same time by resolute national legislative and practical actions.
For a decade, Romania had passed through the process of reforming its own national system and reviewing the capacities in the field of child care. The priority of the child's best interest had been placed at the heart of the reform and represented the main component of the national strategy. The creation of the institutional network and the destabilization of decision-making power and delegation of responsibilities to the local public administration was vigorously supported. The favouring of family-type alternatives to residential care of children in difficulty was viewed as the best practice for ensuring a healthy social environment. Further legislative steps had been taken and the increased involvement of the public services as well as the establishment of the Department for Child Protection. As a candidate to the European Union, the Government had taken many steps to fulfill the criteria of acceding to the European Union; future activities were envisaged with the assistance of the European Commission.
R. N. PRASAD (India) said that millions of children around the globe remained deprived of their basic rights for various reasons, but primarily because of widespread poverty which robbed them of their childhood and all that should go with it. India's commitment to the cause of children was as old as its civilization. Its independence in 1947 had ushered in a new era in the field of child welfare and child development. The Indian Constitution provided a framework for protection, development and welfare of children. Free and compulsory education for children up to the age of 14 years was also included in the Constitution among the rights to be realized progressively. A separate department of women and child development was set up in 1985 in the Ministry of Human Resource Development to pay special attention to the needs of those two vulnerable segments of the society.
Action taken in the area of child health over the years had resulted in a significant drop in the mortality rate of all age groups of children. Massive immunization campaigns against major diseases had contributed significantly to the decline in child mortality rate. As regards education, the Indian Supreme Court had opinioned that without making the right to education a reality, fundamental rights would remain beyond the reach of large segments of the population that were illiterate. In addition, India was committed to concerted action against the problems concerning children arising out of poverty.
LEANDRO DESPOUY (Argentina) said that protection of the right of child was the highest priority for Latin American Countries. In this connection, satisfaction was expressed at the adoption of the two optional protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child which addressed children in armed conflicts, the sale of children and child pornography. These protocols would enable the international community to join forces to combat these scourges with all means. Special importance was attached by Argentina to the family and the right of the child to grow up in a family. In this respect, concern was expressed at the large number of cases where children could not maintain direct contacts with their parents, either because their parents lived in different countries or because they - the children - were illicitly held in a foreign country. This situation violated the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
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56th session
11 April 2000
Evening
Chairman of Working Group on Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child
Pornography, Special Rapporteur on Same Subject, Address Commission
The Commission on Human Rights this evening continued its debate on the rights of the child and heard statements on a variety of issues including trafficking in children, sexual exploitation of children, child labour, child detention, children in armed conflicts and promoting the rights of the girl child.
Country delegations spoke about measures taken to promote and protect children’s rights. The important link between education of children and the development of nations was stressed. The effect of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on children was also detailed.
Botswana urged that prolific speeches and table-thumbing manifestations in condemnation of the massive acts of violations of the rights of children all over the world must be replaced by concrete action.
Jorge Ivan Mora, the Chairman-Rapporteur of the Working Group on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, said the Working Group had found that today, it was not only developing countries' children who were sold, trafficked or whose organs were sold to satisfy voracious international criminals. Crimes against children transcended boundaries. In fact, it was the third most lucrative crime after arms and drugs trafficking.
Ofelia Calcetas-Santos, the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, said that this year, her report focused on domestic violence in the context of her mandate; if cases of children who were drawn into commercial sexual exploitation were directly or indirectly linked or could be traced back to the child's familial situation.
The following delegations addressed the Commission: Pakistan, Portugal (on behalf of the European Union and countries associated with it), Botswana, Poland, Guatemala, El Salvador, China, Senegal, Bangladesh, Ecuador, the United States, Norway, Indonesia, Italy, the Russian Federation, Romania, India and Argentina.
The Commission resumes its plenary at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 12 April, when it will hold a special dialogue on poverty and its effect on human rights. It will resume its debate on the rights of the child at 3 p.m. and is scheduled to hold extended meetings until midnight.
Rights of the Child
Under this agenda item, there is a report of the Secretary-General (E/CN.4/200070) on the status of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The report notes that as of 5 December 1999, 191 countries had ratified or acceded to the Convention. A list of States that has ratified or acceded to the Convention and the dates of their signatures, ratification or accession appears in the annex to the report.
There is a report of the Secretary-General (E/CN.4/2000/69) on the abduction of children from northern Uganda. The report contains related information received from the Government of Sudan and several international organizations and non-governmental sources. These sources accuse the Lord's Resistance Army of carrying out systematic attacks on the civilian population, abducting thousands of children and forcibly recruiting them into their ranks. The Sudanese Government's position is that the evil habit of abducting and using children for military purposes is unknown in Sudan but is a well-known custom in Uganda.
There is a report (E/CN.4/2000/74) by the Working Group on a draft optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on involvement of children in armed conflicts on its sixth session. The report includes information on the organization of the session, general discussion and the consideration of particular issues and drafting proposals including the issues of non-State actors, compliance, national implementation, international cooperation and assistance, enforced or compulsory recruitment, participation in hostilities, voluntary recruitment and military schools. The report also contains notes on the adoption of the draft optional protocol and particular views expressed by some delegations. The countries expressing particular views on the issues are Cuba, France, Denmark, Sweden and Colombia. The observers of UNICEF and ICRC also express particular views.
There is a report (E/CN.4/2000/75) of the Working Group on the question of a draft optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. The Chairman-Rapporteur is Jorge Ivan Mora. The report consists of information on the organization of the session, general statements and a discussion on the draft optional protocol. The optional protocol expresses grave concern at the significant increase in international trafficking of children and the widespread practice of sex tourism to which children are particularly vulnerable. There was concern at the growing availability of child pornography on the Internet and other evolving technologies. Efforts are needed to raise public awareness to reduce consumer demand for the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. It is important to strengthen global partnerships among all actors and improve law enforcement at a national level.
There is a note verbale (E/CN.4/2000/128) dated 3 February 2000 from the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Iraq to the United Nations Office at Geneva addressed to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, on the rights of the child. The note consists of a study on the effects of the embargo on children and women in Iraq and includes statistical data on the total number of deaths due to the economic embargo, mortality in the under and over 5 categories and the incidence of low birth weight as recorded at health institutions during the relevant period.
There is a report of the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution, and child pornography, Ofelia Calcetas-Santos (E/CN.4/2000/73), which notes, among other things, that a large number of young people who enter into prostitution have run away from or have been thrown out of intolerable home environments where they may have been physically, sexually or emotionally abused; that evidence suggests an association rather than a direct causal link between prostitution and childhood physical and sexual abuse; that there should be intensive campaigns to educate the public on the rights of children; that sex education in schools should teach children not only to understand their bodies and sexual development, but also that they have ownership over their bodies and that not even close family members can touch them in certain ways; that the situation of the rights and responsibilities of members of the extended family must be examined, particularly those of step-parents; and that the issue of domestic violence must be brought into the open and be the subject of thorough study and research.
There is an Addendum 1 that summarizes a mission by the Special Rapporteur to Belgium and the Netherlands on the issue of commercial sexual exploitation of children which notes, among other things, that the situation there is similar to that observed in other developed countries but very different from that observed in the developing world; that children in these two countries do not enter prostitution as a result of dire poverty and as a last resort for survival, but as an escape from violence, abuse, and neglect in their homes. Of particular concern is the extent to which the system of protection for refugees is being abused, the report adds; children are being trafficked into both countries, especially Belgium, for prostitution and other purposes.
An Addendum 2 reviews a visit by the Special Rapporteur to Guatemala and recommends, among other things, that both the Children and Adolescents' Code and an adoption law should be adopted and enforced without further delay; that adoptions should be carried out only by State bodies staffed by highly qualified professionals; that when a certificate of abandonment is being examined, poverty should not be accepted as a reason for a woman to give up her child, and that every effort should be made to keep the child within the family and within its ethnic group; that ongoing monitoring should be done of children adopted and taken out of the country; that greater efforts should be made to deal with the problems of street children and drug addiction; and that the extensive occurrence of incest, especially the practice in some communities where the father took his daughter's virginity, must be addressed by the Government as a matter of priority.
An Addendum 3 describes a mission by the Special Rapporteur to Fiji. It concludes, among other things, that the escalating number of street children; drug, alcohol and substance abuse by children; sexual violence, including incest, suffered by children; and a dependency upon tourism indicate, despite an absence of hard data, that there are nefarious practices against children in the country, and that the Government should implement legislative reform and formulate policies for the protection of children. Fiji should mainstream child protection throughout Government programmes and activities; and should educate the general public on child rights. The Rapporteur notes she is convinced that children in Fiji are being commercially exploited sexually, both by local and foreign abusers, and that there is an urgent need for the Government to address the issue while it is still early enough to institute both preventive and remedial actions; she also contends that non-commercial sexual abuse must be accorded urgent attention, especially that within the family.
Statements
JORGE IVAN MORA, the Chairman-Rapporteur of the Working Group on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, said that he would offer no technical introduction to the report but would offer a few useful ideas to stimulate a debate on the subject. When the Working Group started its work in denouncing the violation of children in the most atrocious manner, many had refused to accept the reality of these crimes and the responsibility of all to stop them. It was feared that as in many human rights instruments, negotiations would last for years and years. However, as the reports started to come in, the reality of these crimes led to increased support and the mobilization of public opinion. The point of the report was not to single out any specific countries. The Working Group had gained a greater consciousness and found that today it was not only developing countries' children who were sold, trafficked or whose organs were sold to satisfy voracious international criminals. Crimes against children transcended boundaries. In fact, it was the third most lucrative crime after arms and drugs trafficking.
These crimes were a plague that affected mankind as a whole and could only be compared with what had happened with AIDS in the last decade. The responsibility of the international community was required and efforts had to be re-doubled, which was the purpose of the instruments propped up by the Working Group. The report represented an importance advance and a challenge for all governments. This document was a careful and fragile compromise, but it belonged to everyone, and everyone was responsible for cherishing this delicate consensus. It was an important tool and demonstrated the political will to wipe out these crimes against children.
OFELIA CALCETAS-SANTOS, Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, said that this year, her report focused on domestic violence. Throughout her research into the issue of sale and commercial sexual exploitation of children, it was apparent that the role of a most fundamental catalyst, the family, needed to be examined. She had focused on the family in the context of her mandate; if cases of children who were drawn into commercial sexual exploitation were directly or indirectly linked or could be traced back to the child's familial situation. Previously, not enough research had been undertaken considering children regarding domestic abuse. Available data pertained more often than not to the girl child; boys were also at risk of abuse from members of their own family, and at equal risk of being drawn into prostitution and pornography. The report included abuses ranging from physical and sexual abuse to maltreatment and neglect. As well as examining the nature of these abuses, she had considered the profile of the perpetrators of this abuse.
The Special Rapporteur accounted for her country visits to Belgium, the Netherlands, Guatemala, Fiji and Morocco. The report on Belgium and the Netherlands followed suspicions that Marc Dutroux was part of an organized network of paedophiles that operated throughout Northern Europe, and the extent to which children were trafficked into and through Belgium and the Netherlands. The report on Guatemala investigated the claims of illegalities within the system of inter-country adoption and the extent to which Guatemalan children were at risk of sexual exploitation. The report on Fiji was precipitated by reports that Fiji and other Pacific Islands were becoming popular alternative destinations to child sex tourists. The report on Morocco was conducted in a candid dialogue on the concerns of her mandate and would be presented to the Commission at its fifty-seventh session.
SYED SHARIFUDDIN PIRZADA (Pakistan) said that despite the best intentions of the world community for the improvement of the situation of children, they continued to suffer in all parts of the world. Millions were denied their childhood, had to forego even basic education, were forced to work, become combatants and para-combatants in armed conflicts and were trafficked and sexually exploited. Poverty was the leading cause of denial of the rights of the child. In 1997 Pakistan embarked on a landmark project to combat child labor in the soccer ball industry in the city of Sialkot. Three years on, child labor in Sialkot's soccer ball industry was mostly history. However, there was a negative side to the picture - Pakistan's share of the American soccer-ball market dropped from 65 to 45 per cent between 1996 and 1998 since buyers who wanted certification of the balls' adult-only workmanship were unwilling to pay for it.
Nevertheless, the Government was working to replicate the soccer ball initiative in other industries. It was also examining the possibility of ratifying International Labor Office Convention 182 on the Elimination of Worst Forms of Child Labor. A national Plan of Action was in its final stages of preparation. The components of the plan consisted of raising awareness of the problem of child labor, making child labor a cognizable offence, documenting child abuses and exploitation of child labor, making primary education compulsory, providing economic incentives to families to send children to school, and extending the social security network.
ALVARO MENDONCA E MOURA (Portugal), speaking on behalf of the European Union and associated States, said that the EU welcomed the work done by the Committee on the Rights of the Child in monitoring the application of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. A very important tool for the improvement of the implementation of the Convention was providing orientation to States on its application and for the realization of the rights set forth therein. The Committee on the Rights of the Child in cooperation with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights had organized a meeting with the objective of highlighting the major achievements and constraints in the implementation of the Convention and identifying measures needed in the future. The EU attached special importance to the protection and promotion of the rights of the girl-child and called upon all governments to actively fight systematic discrimination against girls, evaluate the impact of governmental programmes on girls' rights, educate women, men, girls and boys to promote girls’ status, ensure equal access to education by girls and boys and develop gender-sensitive school curricula.
Concerning children in conflict with the law, the EU called upon all governments to ensure that: deprivation of a child's liberty was to be used only as a last resort, the conditions of detention should be in conformity with the Convention, the death penalty should never be imposed on offenders under the age 18, and each child deprived of liberty should be treated humanely. The EU strongly recommended that all governments which had not already done so ratify International Labor Office Conventions 138 and 182 on child labor. Regarding HIV/AIDS, the EU called upon the international community, the UN system, States and non-governmental organizations to join efforts to curb this epidemic. Portugal also brought up issues concerning children and the right to education, the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and the involvement of children in armed conflicts. The EU noted that the non-governmental organizations’ community had played a pivotal role in creating an awareness for the violations of the rights of the child in situations of armed conflict and for mobilizing the world's public opinion for this cause. The EU strongly hoped that the draft optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child became a tool for the protection of children in situations of armed conflicts and called for its early adoption.
T. R. DITLHABI OLIPHANT (Botswana) said that the Commission had been presented with horrific instances of violations of children's rights throughout the world in both thematic reports and the reports of Special Rapporteurs. Members had read with disbelief about varying forms of exploitation of children, from unacceptable labor standards to trafficking in and sale of children, to the use of children in prostitution and exploitation and abuse of refugee children. The use of children as instruments of war and in conflicts was a crime against humanity, which condemned a whole generation. The Commission on Human Rights was indebted to the children of Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Rwanda, Burundi, Angola, Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan, Kosovo, Colombia and many others who were victims of civil and internecine wars. Prolific speeches and table-thumbing manifestations in condemnation of the massive acts of violations of the rights of children all over the world must be replaced by concrete action.
Concern was expressed about the growing number of displaced persons, especially in Africa. These displaced persons, who consisted mainly of women and children between the ages of 2 and 15, were victims of political and socio-economic destabilization. The scourge of HIV/AIDS had also given birth to a new form of child victims who had become orphans as a result of a triple tragedy of losing both parents and other members of their families through the disease.
IRENA KOWALSKA (Poland) affirmed that Polish children constituted a very important group of society due to the fact that one out of four Poles was under 18. The State and the family accorded to children the highest possible priority. Parents and society invested as much as possible in children with a view to develop their capabilities. They were protected by legislative, administrative, social and educational means from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, maltreatment and exploitation, trafficking and sexual abuse. Since January 2000, a new act establishing an Ombudsman for children's rights had been in force. It would undertake the measures which would protect the child from violence, cruelty, abuse, demoralization and other forms of exploitation.
In many countries, children's life was far from what one would like to see. Instead of ensuring full and harmonious development of children and shaping friendly family environment of love and acceptance around them, the very notion of welfare was unknown and their rights were violated. At the end of the century, war remained one of the principal obstacles to the enjoyment of human rights and to the realization of the rights of all children who were involved in the armed conflicts and were the primary victims.
VICTOR HUGO GODOY (Guatemala) said that the harsh reality of children as described by the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography was of considerable concern for the Government and should be of equal concern for the Guatemalan society as a whole. Measures taken so far by the Government had failed to reverse the reality of children in the country. The Government intended to give priority to drafting a law on adoptions and reiterated its willingness to ratify the Hague Convention on Adoption as well as several other international instruments relating to children, including the optional protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Other steps expected to be taken shortly to address the needs of children included a plan against the sexual exploitation of children, the setting up of a child police unit, sensitizing policemen to the problems children faced and introducing sweeping educational reforms.
MARIO CASTRO GRANDE (El Salvador) said that his country condemned all forms of exploitation of children, including the recent phenomenon of sex tourism. The number of children excluded because of poverty was increasing in many countries because of a lack of satisfactory health, educational and nutritional services. In El Salvador, 46 per cent of the population was made up of children under 18 years and because of that the Government was paying special attention to organize the civil society which was dealing with the protection of children. In addition, national legislation had been put in place with the aim of protecting and promoting the rights of children. Among the legal instruments were the family code and family procedural code, and the law against domestic violence.
Salvadorian school attendance had been increased by 35 per cent while infant mortality was reduced by 30 per cent. The Government believed that the best way of protecting the rights of the child was through the adoption of peace and a non-violent culture by the society. It was also preparing itself to join the international community in observing the decade of peace and non-violence which would start next year. The Government was also satisfied by the adoption by the Working Group on children and armed conflict of an optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
SUN ANG (China) said there were more than 300 million children living in China, covering one-fifth of the world's total number of children. Since the Convention on the Rights on the Child became effective in China, a complete legal system related to children's subsistence, protection and development had been created through the establishment of new laws and the amendment of existing ones. The legal system, with the Constitution as the core, was composed of a series of laws such as the Law on the Protection of Minors, the Law on the Health Care of Mothers and Infants, the Law on the Protection of the Handicapped, the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Women, the Adoption Law, the Law on Compulsory Education and the Labour Law. The Framework of Children's Development Programme had been implemented and set forth ten objectives based upon the national situation of China, outlining specific measures in order to make operable the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
There was still much to achieve as 40 million people in China lived in poverty, one-third of them children. Specific projects had been undertaken such as Hope Project and the Spring Bud Programme. In order to give a complete presentation on China's implementation of the Convention, the Government had submitted its initial and second reports to the relevant UN body. The preparation of the third report was underway.
MAMADOU MOUSTAPHA LOUM (Senegal) said that a decade after the entry into force of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the situation of children around the world remained extremely worrying. Despite growing recognition of the need to protect children, experience and daily practice showed that they remained disadvantaged and in certain cases abandoned to themselves. In Africa, the situation of children was further compounded by economic, social and cultural constraints, armed conflicts and humanitarian crises.
The debt burden, the significant decrease in official development assistance, insufficient national resources and declining foreign investment impeded developing countries' efforts to ensure respect for the Convention. Of particular concern was child labour, the sale and prostitution of children and child pornography, alongside illiteracy, diseases, hunger and disabilities. The international community must adopt all the necessary measures to protect children from these plagues and to enhance cooperation in order to better prevent, identify and prosecute those who violated the rights of children.
SUFIUR RAHMAN (Bangladesh) said that each year 3 million children died from curable diseases. During the last decade 2 million children died, 2 million were wounded, 12 million were made homeless and 10 million were left to psychological traumas of wars and conflicts. It was time to ponder on what went wrong since the World Summit for Children in 1990 and what should be the future strategy. The right to education stood out among all the rights of the child. However, going by the current trend, global access to primary education was not assured. The poor developing countries were left alone in their endeavours to provide basic primary education to their children, as the total bilateral aid for education from the OECD countries had declined. In Bangladesh, education got the highest allocation in the budget, primary education was compulsory and free.
Bangladesh had formulated a National Policy on Children in order to harmonize Government action to protect the interests of the child. A high-level National Children Council, with representations from all relevant Ministries, non-governmental organizations and child welfare activists was responsible for monitoring the enforcement of legislative measures for the protection of child rights. Collaboration between the public and private sector had resulted in some significant improvements in the overall situation of children in Bangladesh, infant mortality had declined and six out of seven children were now under the coverage of the Extended Programme of Immunization. Bangladesh was committed to reduce child labour and the garment sector was free from child labour.
JOSE VALENCIA (Ecuador) said that his country's devotion to the promotion and protection of children had been manifested in many instances which involved children, including its advocacy for the inclusion of a clause in the resolution concerning children on the right to identity what was essential to them. The Government had been combating violence involving children which took many forms within the society. Violence against children required special attention. Ecuador viewed with satisfaction the adoption of the optional protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child pertaining to children and armed conflicts, and the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.
Ecuador noted and appreciated the comments expressed by many delegations on the importance of establishing coherent international legislation on children. However, international legislation should be consistent in its content in order to obtain the desired goals of the international community. In all cases, the best interest of the child should be primordial. States were urged to accede to the two optional protocols to the Convention so the protection and promotion of children's rights could be strengthened.
NANCY RUBIN (The United States) said that this had been a remarkable year for children and the international community. The International Labour Organization had adopted the Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour and the international community had agreed on two optional protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child which addressed the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography as well as children and armed conflict. This was a victory for the children of the world, especially for the tens of millions of them who were still forced to work in conditions that shocked the conscience and haunted the soul.
Millions of young people were forced to become soldiers in conflicts they barely comprehended, or were indentured and enslaved to pay family debts; or were made to work in extremely unsafe conditions. There were some 1.2 billion people around the world who lived in deep and bitter poverty, half of them children. In developing countries, some 250 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 had to work outside the home and few had the chance to go to school. Sadly, not all countries appreciated how intimately education was tied to a nation's development. Some did not even require universal primary school education. In Africa, every day some 8,500 children were infected with AIDS and another 30,000 died from illness, neglect and assault. But war was the most vile destroyer of youth. UNICEF estimated that two million young people had died in violent conflicts in the past decade, while another six million had been injured.
LARS SIGURD VALVATNE (Norway) said that the Norwegian Government had consistently sought to advance the opportunity for children and young people to participate in the development of society in frameworks such as the Youth Forum for Democracy. Norway was concerned about the great number of reservations to the two optional protocols, contrary to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Convention, the 'Oslo-challenge' was launched seeking to develop a resource manual to assist in reporting and examining issues relating to children and the media. The delegation of Norway expressed concern at the number of children affected by armed conflicts; focus was needed to improve the protection of children in situations of armed conflicts. Mobilization at the regional level and through non-governmental organizations was important to give attention to children in situations of armed conflict.
Norway was concerned about the continuing discrimination against girls, within and outside the family environment, with regard to access to education and health care. There were approximately 250 million child-workers in the world working under appalling and unacceptable conditions. The issue of child labour was a complex and multi-faceted problem. To overcome child labour it was necessary to see poverty eradication, income-earning measures for poor families and the development of educational opportunities in an overall context.
BALI MONIAGA (Indonesia) said that the increased marginalization of developing countries and its negative impact on the safety and welfare of children was an important aspect which needed to be discussed during the preparatory process for the Special Session. The completion of the elaboration of the two optional protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child was welcomed. In Indonesia there were no problems regarding the minimum age for children in armed conflicts and the delegation agreed that the minimum age should be raised from 15 years to 18 years. The Indonesian delegation expressed concern at the global problem of child labour, a major challenge in the field of human rights for an international community professing its profound concern for the rights of children. Indonesia was committed to implementing all aspects of the ILO Convention Against the Worst Forms of Child Labour and was taking necessary steps at the national level and within the judicial system.
In many situations, Indonesia was constrained by the economic crisis from which the country was struggling to emerge. Sizeable resources were devoted to improve education and provide health care, guided by the National Plan of Action on the implementation of the World Declaration on the survival, protection and development of children. Complementing this effort would be the activities of 79 non-governmental organizations dealing with the protection of the rights of the child, in the establishment of an independent National Commission on Child Protection.
CLAUDIO MORENO (Italy) said that during the Working Group's debate on the optional protocol on children in armed conflict, Italy had joined the general consensus concerning the minimum age for the participation of children in armed conflict. This said, Italy believed that an authentic interpretation would have to be given in due course to the word direct contained in article one of the protocol, notably in the phrase "to ensure that members of their armed forces who have not attained the age of 18 do not take a direct part in hostilities". Italy requested that this concern be reflected in the report of the Commission's session.
ANDREI NIKIFOROV (the Russian Federation) said that for the first time in history a virtual bill of rights for children had been established. The State had a responsibility to provide for children the right to life, a name and citizenship, and the protection of their rights in armed conflicts, in refugee camps and in inner cities. More than 65 per cent of victims in conflicts were civilian and half of these were children. In the final analysis, the best way of protecting children was to prevent conflicts, or to settle them before they developed into armed conflicts. The Russian Federation expressed disappointment that the Working Group had not fully ensured the safety of children in armed conflicts; there should be a universal age limit for recruitment into armed conflicts.
It was essential to protect children and help them fulfill their potential. The Russian Federation had undertaken several legislative acts such as the Federal Law adopted in 1998 establishing the objectives and parameters of the protection of the rights of the child. The Government had taken several legislative steps to ensure the safety of children without supervision, in the identification of drop outs and children with no fixed abode. This work was conducted in accordance with the Federal Law. Despite the economic situation, Russia was hoping to supply social support to the most needy, particularly children who needed State assistance, through programmes such as Children of the North, Children of Russia etc. The image and the development of the next century would be determined by how the children of today were protected. They were supposed to be better, wiser and smarter that their parents' generation. The responsibility to achieve this had to be undertaken now.
ANTON PACURETU (Romania) commended the work at the UN level in further developing the normative basis aimed at strengthening the capacity of response, evaluation and integration of the rights of the child in the overall human rights procedures and mechanisms. Romania encouraged the early adoption of the two optional protocols on children in armed conflict and on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. To be effective, the international measures should be accompanied at the same time by resolute national legislative and practical actions.
For a decade, Romania had passed through the process of reforming its own national system and reviewing the capacities in the field of child care. The priority of the child's best interest had been placed at the heart of the reform and represented the main component of the national strategy. The creation of the institutional network and the destabilization of decision-making power and delegation of responsibilities to the local public administration was vigorously supported. The favouring of family-type alternatives to residential care of children in difficulty was viewed as the best practice for ensuring a healthy social environment. Further legislative steps had been taken and the increased involvement of the public services as well as the establishment of the Department for Child Protection. As a candidate to the European Union, the Government had taken many steps to fulfill the criteria of acceding to the European Union; future activities were envisaged with the assistance of the European Commission.
R. N. PRASAD (India) said that millions of children around the globe remained deprived of their basic rights for various reasons, but primarily because of widespread poverty which robbed them of their childhood and all that should go with it. India's commitment to the cause of children was as old as its civilization. Its independence in 1947 had ushered in a new era in the field of child welfare and child development. The Indian Constitution provided a framework for protection, development and welfare of children. Free and compulsory education for children up to the age of 14 years was also included in the Constitution among the rights to be realized progressively. A separate department of women and child development was set up in 1985 in the Ministry of Human Resource Development to pay special attention to the needs of those two vulnerable segments of the society.
Action taken in the area of child health over the years had resulted in a significant drop in the mortality rate of all age groups of children. Massive immunization campaigns against major diseases had contributed significantly to the decline in child mortality rate. As regards education, the Indian Supreme Court had opinioned that without making the right to education a reality, fundamental rights would remain beyond the reach of large segments of the population that were illiterate. In addition, India was committed to concerted action against the problems concerning children arising out of poverty.
LEANDRO DESPOUY (Argentina) said that protection of the right of child was the highest priority for Latin American Countries. In this connection, satisfaction was expressed at the adoption of the two optional protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child which addressed children in armed conflicts, the sale of children and child pornography. These protocols would enable the international community to join forces to combat these scourges with all means. Special importance was attached by Argentina to the family and the right of the child to grow up in a family. In this respect, concern was expressed at the large number of cases where children could not maintain direct contacts with their parents, either because their parents lived in different countries or because they - the children - were illicitly held in a foreign country. This situation violated the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
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