|
|
|
Press Centre
News Note
Iberoamerican writers and celebrities call for steps
forward for children
New York, 26 November 2002 - A distinguished group of imminent Iberoamerican
writers and celebrities led by Nobel prizewinner José Saramago and former
President of the Republic of Colombia, Mr. Belisario Betancur issued
an urgent call on behalf of chidren Wednesday.
In the "Manifesto for an Economy and Democracy for Children and
Adolescents" the group states that:
"Responsibility for the well-being of children rests not only
with parents, teachers, and parents," the tract says. "But
also with international financial corporations, multinational companies,
the system of multilateral cooperation and private investors, all of
whom must ensure that:
- No child and/or adolescent suffer from hunger
- All children and adolescents go to school.
- No child and/or adolescent has to work and suffer from any type
of exploitation and/or abuse."
The Notables, as the group is known, also appealed to UNICEF "to
assume the task of impelling the dialogue between society and governments,
of course involving children and adolescents in each of our countries."
UNICEF's upcoming flagship publication, The State of the World's
Children - 2003 calls for greater inter-generational dialogue.
The report asserts that participation of children is essential to preparing
them for the responsibilities they will assume as adults, as well as
to more cohesive societies.
Signatures were put to the document in a public ceremony Wednesday
afternoon at the Salamanca University in Spain. Speaking up for children
were Nobel laureate José Saramago and coordinator, former President
of the Republic of Colombia, Mr. Belisario Betancur. Also: Ernesto Sabato,
Jorge Enrique Adoum, Arturo Corcuera, Thiago de Mello, Carmen Alborch,
Mario Benedetti, Carlos Fuentes, Ángeles Mastretta, Álvaro Mutis, Héctor
Aguilar Camin, Rosa Montero, Rigoberta Menchu, Fernando Savater, Elena
Poniatowska, Alfredo Bryce Echenique, Monseñor Gregorio Rosa Chavez,
Antonio Skarmeta, Cristovam Buarque, Eulalio Ferrer, Manuel Viçent y
Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
|
|
