At a glance: Mexico

Mexico: Leaders come together to ensure children are a priority in elections

© UNICEF/HQ96-0988/Hernandez-Claire

A young boy holds a box filled with pastries he is selling on the outskirts of Mexico City. According to a report from 2000, the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Information Technology (INEGI), 3.3 million children in Mexico work.

By Maya Dollarhide

MEXICO CITY, 22 July 2005 – In anticipation of next July’s presidential election, the Consultative Board of UNICEF Mexico has issued an appeal to candidates, media and all citizens to make children’s rights a priority on the political agenda.

The Consultative Board includes leaders of diverse backgrounds and viewpoints, from the business community, academia, politics, and the arts, who share a commitment to improving the future of the country’s children.

The group issued a declaration that calls for candidates to generate serious and viable proposals for fulfilling the rights of Mexican children. The declaration also calls on journalists to incorporate a children's rights viewpoint into their reporting and election coverage, and asks the people of Mexico to evaluate candidates on the quality of their proposals for the well-being of children.

“The declaration was signed by a diverse group of Mexican citizens. But they came together on this issue, that children should be a priority,” says UNICEF Representative in Mexico Yoriko Yasukawa. “We in the UNICEF office applaud and thank this group for their initiative.”

Declaration from Consultative Board of UNICEF Mexico: Children must be a priority in the electoral debate [PDF]