[child-rights] UN General Assembly opens landmark session on children

UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY OPENS LANDMARK SESSION ON CHILDREN
New York, May  8 2002 11:00AM

Bringing together some 60 heads of State and government and some 6,000
participants – including children – the United Nations General Assembly
today opened a special session that for the first time in the history of
the UN’s main legislative and deliberative body is formally devoted to the
situation of young people under the age of 18.

The three-day session at UN Headquarters in New York, which will review
progress made for children since the landmark 1990 World Summit for
Children, marks the first time that young people are part of government
delegations and will present their case themselves to the Assembly.

“To the adults in this room, I would say: let us not make children pay for
our failures any more,” UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in his
opening statement to the session, which is attended by delegates from 180
countries – including nearly 400 children – and another 3,000
representatives from non-governmental organizations.

“Who among us has not looked into the eyes of a disappointed child, and
been humbled?” he said. “The children in this room are witnesses to our
words. They and their peers in every land have a right to expect us to
turn our words into action: to build a world fit for children.”

The Secretary-General recounted a list of accomplishments achieved within
15 years – such as the moon landing, the eradication of smallpox and the
end of apartheid – and noted that the Millennium goals set in 2000 were
meant to be realized within the same timeframe.

“What did these events have in common? They were achieved because people
had the commitment to use their minds and their hearts to work together
and reach the goals they had set themselves,” Mr. Annan said.

“If they could accomplish all these things within the span of one childhood, how can we fail to do the same with the pledges that have been agreed by all the countries of the world? Especially as we know from experience that for every dollar invested in the development of a child, there is a seven-dollar return for all society?”   

For his part, Assembly President Han Seung-soo of the Republic of Korea
said the meeting was taking place at a crucial moment. The high turnout of
world leaders and delegates, he stressed, reflected the fact that progress
for future generations depended on partnerships between many players and
on the participation of children and young people themselves.

“Looking into the future, we still have a long journey ahead of us. We
must be serious and open about the challenges that remain – about the
unfinished business of the last decade,” Mr. Han said.

“Unless we understand and acknowledge our failures, we are in danger of
repeating them,” he said. “Unless we recognize and address the barriers to
progress for children, we cannot overcome them. Unless we are inventive,
creative and adaptable, we will be unable to respond to the issues that
have emerged since 1990 or to the challenges and opportunities that may
face us in the future.”


UN News Service