[child-rights] Children issue statement to world leaders at the UN

'We Are Not An Expense, We Are An Investment - We Are Citizens of
This World'

NEW YORK, 10 May 2002 - Declaring that "we want a world fit for
children, because a world fit for us is fit for everyone," young
people from more than 100 nations sent a powerful message to world
leaders gathered at the United Nations Special Session on Children
this week.

After three days of discussion and debate that ended Tuesday evening,
nearly 400 young people taking part in the offical Children's Forum
unanimously agreed to a 700-word message to world leaders.

The statement was delivered at the United Nations General Assembly on
Wednesday morning, in the first hour of the GA's Special Session on
Children. It was the first time children had ever addressed the UN
General Assembly on a substantive issue.

Two young delegates to the Children's Forum were chosen by their
peers to deliver the statement: Gabriela Azurduy Arrieta, 13, from
Bolivia, and Audrey Cheynut, 17, from Monaco.

UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy was visibly moved by the work
the young delegates put into their statement, and their resolve and
dignity in presenting it to world leaders. "I believe that for the
first time in the history of the United Nations, children are not
just being seen - they are being heard," Bellamy said. "The young
people have not only been eloquent, they have taken responsibility
and shown incredible commitment. I hope it serves to inspire the
leaders attending this conference."

Some 60 summit-level leaders are in attendance at the Special
Session, part of more than 180 high-level government delegations.
More than 3,000 non-government delegates are also taking part, all of
them concerned about children and nearly half of them from the
developing world, where children face the greatest challenges to
survival, health, education and well-being.

"We are not the sources of problems; we are the resources that are
needed to solve them," the children said in their statement. "We are
not expenses; we are investments. We are not just young people; we
are people and citizens of this world. You call us the future. But we
are also the present."

Government delegations at the Special Session are reviewing progress
made toward global goals for children that were set in 1990. They are
also expected to agree to a new set of goals for the next decade.

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For further information, please contact:

UNICEF Media, New York:
(212) 326-7261 or (212) 326-7593