EuropaWorld 15/6/2001 children climb the political agenda

It has long been recognised that children are especially vulnerable to abuse from those under whose care, or into whose authority, they fall. Children have always been exploited by adults, whether for their labour, their fighting ability or more personal and sinister purposes. At the same time many of these exploited children have been denied the basic norms of life: sufficient food to grow healthily, the chance to learn to read and write, medicine when sick, a home. Frequently such exploited children are physically and psychologically mistreated: beaten and emotionally scarred.

Ending the exploitation of children is a humanitarian cause with a very long history indeed. And the fight continues to this day. If child labour has been largely eliminated in the industrialised countries it still flourishes in many less developed regions, despite being outlawed almost universally. Children are sold by the parents into forms of bondage and employed then in making carpets or in domestic service, often in atrocious and intolerable conditions.

In conflict zones, children are often kidnapped and forced to fight. They eat less than adult soldiers and can be bullied more easily into action. Boys become fighters, girls are made to do ancillary duties in the camps. The problem is particularly acute in Africa. Olara Otunnu is the UN's Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict and in New York this week he urged political and military leaders to bring a complete stop to all recruitment and use of child soldiers. Referring to the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has just outlawed the practice, he said "the massive recruitment and use of children as child soldiers have become a plague that is steadily destroying the fabric and future of …..this zone of Africa."

Even without such abuses children are especially vulnerable to the actions or inactions of adults. More than 10 million children still die each year, often from preventable causes, while an estimated 150 million others suffer from malnutrition. Conflicts have taken the lives of approximately 2 million children over the past decade, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic has left more than 13 million orphans in its wake.

This September the UN General Assembly is due to host a Special Session on children's rights, the first such major event since the landmark 1990 World Summit for Children. The statistics above were cited by Louise Fréchette, the UN Deputy Secretary-General, in an address to the Session's Preparatory Committee and she urged a renewed political push to meet the needs of the world's young people.

There had been real and significant progress in a number of areas, she said. Child mortality rates were down, immunisation levels were up, and more girls and boys were receiving an education than ever before. But she concluded that much more needed to be done. The General Assembly's Special Session on children should therefore aim at regenerating political will and commitment in order to address the remaining challenges affecting the well being of our children.

What remains to be done? Apart from ending the continuing and widespread abuse of children, it is now generally accepted that education, and particularly the education of girls, is a key factor in ending poverty and promoting sustainable development. To take only one example, women who are educated tend to have smaller families. Not only that but mothers who can read and write tend to pass on these skills to their children. Education opens the route to the elimination of poverty and lets people have greater control of their lives. Education of girls begins a virtuous circle. That is why agencies such as UNICEF are keen to see the issue moved up the political agenda.

UNICEF's Executive Director is Carol Bellamy, who is now in her seventh year as the head of the organisation. She has a keen focus on ensuring that the plight of the world's children stay in the minds of Government leaders particularly at this time in the run-up to the Special Session on Children.

Hence the 'Say Yes for Children' pledge campaign, sponsored by a global partnership of individuals and organisations committed to improving how the world treats its children. This worldwide campaign calls on world leaders to commit themselves to ten basic principles that will protect and improve the lives of children.

People everywhere, in more than 90 countries, are being urged to sign up and already, say UNICEF, there are millions of votes in the bag urging world leaders to take action. At least 2.5 million pledges have been registered over the last six weeks, both through community outreach efforts and via the 'Say Yes for Children' campaign website at http://www.gmfc.org

"This campaign has the potential to make a real difference for children," said Carol Bellamy. "The pledges of millions of people will be presented to world leaders at the UN Special Session on Children this September, and the message will be quite clear: the citizens of the world care about children and expect governments to keep the promises they make to them."