[child-rights] Special Session Update No. 5

Special Session Update No. 5 * 11 May 2002
- NGOs working together for the UN General Assembly Special Session on Children

* Watered down language on rights and reproductive health
* Superpower bullying
* Lack of NGO access


SPECIAL SESSION VERDICT: EXTREME DISAPPOINTMENT, IMMENSE SUCCESS

It ended not with a bang, but a whimper.

The whimpering came mainly from the biggest non-governmental coalition at 
the Special Session, the Child Rights Caucus, but it also came in 
surprisingly strong language from a number of governments after agreement 
was reached on the conference declaration late Friday evening.

For the Caucus, Jo Becker said the 100-group coalition was "extremely 
disappointed" with the downgrading of the Convention on the Rights of the 
Child in the text, and accused governments of "squandering an opportunity" 
to build on the work of the last decade.

Describing the whole negotiating process as flawed, the Caucus said the 
United States and the European Union (EU) had negotiated the final 
compromise - with the EU stepping away from its commitments - and offered 
it to other governments on a take it or leave it basis. "The US has 
basically tried to hijack the document," said Becker, and the EU had simply 
caved in.

After "fierce disputes over sexual and reproductive rights" said the 
Caucus, governments agreed only weak references to previous international 
conferences without spelling out the rights of adolescents to comprehensive 
sexual and reproductive health education, information and services.

And the removal of one of the references to the aid target of 0.7 percent 
of gross domestic product "is a huge disappointment to all of us," said Becker.

Several youth participants also voiced disappointment.

Said Tom Burke an under-18 delegate from the UK and member of the Caucus, 
"At the end of the Children's Forum we explicitly told governments what A 
World Fit For Us would look like. The Outcome Document is a real 
disappointment. We spoke, but it feels like no-one really listened."

Youth participant Bala Subramanya was even more pointed: "The Outcome 
Document contains no opinions of children."

Razia Sultan Ismail Abbasi of the India Alliance for Child Rights blamed 
the US for being an obstacle to a productive agreement. She feared that by 
railroading the text to fit its own interests, the US would effectively 
erode other governments' commitments to their children.

She said that South Asian governments, home to a majority of the world's 
children, had not performed well in meeting the targets of the 1990 
Children's Summit and had a lot of explaining to do for their failure to 
hold fast in the current negotiations.

There was a sense of failure from the negotiations. In terms of the 
Convention, she said, "We've had a bad decade: we may be in for another."

Mary Purcell of the NGO Committee on UNICEF criticised the lack of access 
for NGOs during the negotiations. The general lack of contact with 
delegates over most of the negotiating period had become even more marked 
since April, when NGOs had found the doors tightly shut. The poor lines of 
communication with delegates was one of the reasons for the weakness of the 
document.

Mary Diaz of the NGO Committee on UNICEF picked up the theme when she 
addressed the meeting on Friday night. After noting the limited access 
offered to NGOs, she told governments they had to recognise the need for 
participation. In addition, the conference's failure to make its 
declaration a manifesto for the CRC sent the wrong message to children 
about governments' commitment to child rights.

The lack of transparency was also criticised by the Like-Minded Group 
(which includes Australia, Canada, Croatia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, New 
Zealand, Norway, San Marino, Slovakia and Switzerland). In the Friday night 
session, a spokesperson for the group said their efforts to maintain the 
openness of the negotiation had not been reciprocated. Better cooperation 
would have produced a better Outcome Document, he said.

Mexico was even more outspoken, saying it totally disagreed with the 
negotiating procedures. The Rio Group [of South American countries] had 
made an "immense effort" to secure a compromise, only to be unfairly 
accused of obstructing an agreement. Such conduct was unacceptable and 
threatened the entire process of multilateral negotiations.

Bolivia condemned the continued neglect of the reproductive rights of 
adolescents - an issue for many in Bolivia that threatened a women's right 
to life. While welcoming advances in the language on indigenous children 
and children's participation, Canada also registered dissatisfaction with 
the debate on sexual and reproductive health: "regrettable attempts" had 
been made to go back on language agreed at previous UN conferences; "the 
document falls significantly short" on the issue.

Against this mood of disappointment and in some cases anger, the US 
described the conference as "immensely successful" and the group of Some 
Developing Countries commented, "Today we have achieved a historical 
victory. We are presenting a big present to our children in the 21st century."

UNICEF executive director Carol Bellamy also put the most positive gloss on 
the event. She listed the more than 60 presidents, vice-presidents, prime 
ministers and deputy prime ministers who had turned up to the Summit (as 
well as two queens, a king and princes); a strong showing by 
parliamentarians and religious leaders, the private sector and NGOs; the 
Secretary-General's end of decade year review; the Global Movement for 
Children; the national and regional action plans; the launching of several 
initiatives during the Summit, such as the micronutrient deficiency 
campaign; children's participation, including the first session of the 
General Assembly in which children were not only seen but heard; and "a 
very strong Outcome Document".


A WORLD FIT FOR CHILDREN

On 10 May, governments reached agreement and adopted a draft resolution, 
entitled 'A World Fit for Children'.

Endorsement of 'A World Fit for Children' commits heads of states and 
governments to achieving a set of targets and benchmarks for children by 
2010. The Outcome Document includes a declaration, a review of progress and 
lessons learned and a detailed plan of action.

There are four priorities for children in the coming decade.
* Promoting healthy lives.
* Providing quality education.
* Protecting against abuse, exploitation and violence.
* Combating HIV/AIDS.

The Plan of Action outlines how to create a world fit for children through 
specific goals, strategies and action; mobilising resources; and follow-up 
actions and monitoring. Goals and actions are linked to the achievement of 
the 2015 Millennium Development Goals.

In total there are 21 specific targets and benchmarks for child health, 
education and protection over the next decade.


I. PROMOTING HEALTHY LIVES

(a) Reduction in the infant and under-five mortality rate by at least one 
third, in pursuit of the goal of reducing it by two thirds by 2015;
(b) Reduction in the maternal mortality ratio by at least one third, in 
pursuit of the goal of reducing it by three quarters by 2015;
(c) Reduction of child malnutrition among children under five years of age 
by at least one third, with special attention to children under two years 
of age, and reduction in the rate of low birth weight by at least one third 
of the current rate;
(d) Reduction in the proportion of households without access to hygienic 
sanitation facilities and affordable and safe drinking water by at least 
one third;
(e) Development and implementation of national early childhood development 
policies and programmes to ensure the enhancement of children's physical, 
social, emotional, spiritual and cognitive development;
(f) Development and implementation of national health policies and 
programmes for adolescents, including goals and indicators, to promote 
their physical and mental health;
(g) Access through the primary health-care system to reproductive health 
for all individuals of appropriate ages as soon as possible and no later 
than 2015.

II. PROVIDING QUALITY EDUCATION

(a) Expand and improve comprehensive early childhood care and education, 
for girls and boys, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged 
children;
(b) Reduce the number of primary school-age children who are out of school 
by 50 per cent and increase net primary school enrolment or participation 
in alternative, good quality primary education programmes to at least 90 
per cent by 2010;
(c) Eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005 
and achieve gender equality in education by 2015, with a focus on ensuring 
girls' full and equal access to and achievement in basic education of good 
quality;
(d) Improve all aspects of the quality of education so that children and 
young people achieve recognized and measurable learning outcomes, 
especially in numeracy, literacy and essential life skills;
(e) Ensure that the learning needs of all young people are met through 
access to appropriate learning and life skills programmes;
(f) Achieve a 50 per cent improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015, 
especially for women.

III. PROTECTING AGAINST ABUSE, EXPLOITATION AND VIOLENCE

(a) Protect children from all forms of abuse, neglect, exploitation and 
violence;
(b) Protect children from the impact of armed conflict and forced 
displacement, and ensure compliance with international humanitarian and 
human rights law; (pending)
(c) Protect children from all forms of sexual exploitation, including 
paedophilia, trafficking, and abduction;
(d) Take immediate and effective measures to eliminate the worst forms of 
child labour as defined in International Labour Organization Convention No. 
182, and elaborate and implement strategies for the elimination of child 
labour that is contrary to accepted international standards;
(e) Improve the plight of millions of children who live under especially 
difficult circumstances.

IV. COMBATING HIV/AIDS

(a) By 2003, establish time-bound national targets to achieve the 
internationally agreed global prevention goal to reduce by 2005 HIV 
prevalence among young men and women aged 15 to 24 in the most affected 
countries by 25 per cent and by 25 per cent globally by 2010, and intensify 
efforts to achieve these targets as well as to challenge gender stereotypes 
and attitudes and gender inequalities in relation to HIV/AIDS, encouraging 
the active involvement of men and boys;
(b) By 2005, reduce the proportion of infants infected with HIV by 20 per 
cent, and by 2010 reduce it by 50 per cent, by ensuring that 80 per cent of 
pregnant women accessing antenatal care have information, counselling and 
other HIV prevention services available to them, increasing the 
availability of and by providing access for HIV-infected women and babies 
to effective treatment to reduce mother-to-child transmission of HIV, as 
well as through effective interventions for HIV-infected women, including 
voluntary and confidential counselling and testing, access to treatment, 
especially anti-retroviral therapy and, where appropriate, breast milk 
substitutes and the provision of a continuum of care;
(c) By 2003 develop and by 2005 implement national policies and strategies 
to build and strengthen governmental, family and community capacities to 
provide a supportive environment for orphans and girls and boys infected 
and affected by HIV/AIDS, including by providing appropriate counselling 
and psychosocial support, ensuring their enrolment in school and access to 
shelter, good nutrition, health and social services on an equal basis with 
other children, and protecting orphans and vulnerable children from all 
forms of abuse, violence, exploitation, discrimination, trafficking and 
loss of inheritance.


Special Session Update is published for the duration of the Special Session 
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are available to delegates in New York.

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