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Press Release

"Breakthrough for children" contained in peace report from Guatemala

The Report sees child rights as key to sustaining peace & creating prosperity; UNICEF calls for similar efforts elsewhere

19 December 2000: The United Nations Children's Fund today hailed as a "major breakthrough" a report from the UN Peace Mission in Guatemala that focuses on children's rights as a crucial element of peace-building efforts.

The report, issued last week by the United Nations Mission for the Verification of Human Rights in Guatemala (MINUGUA), analyzes how children's rights have been fulfilled – or left unfulfilled – as part of the legal, social and economic reforms that lie at the core of peace-building efforts underway in Guatemala.

The UN's peace-building initiative in Guatemala is its largest and most ambitious such operation in the world. Peace accords signed in Guatemala in 1996 ended 35 years of armed conflict.

"This groundbreaking report makes clear that the only way to sustain peace and prosperity is to build up a culture of respect for human rights. Such efforts must begin with children – the citizens and leaders of tomorrow," said UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy.

"We're talking about education, nutrition, legal protections – very fundamental rights" Bellamy added. "If efforts at reconciliation and rebuilding lack provisions protecting the interests of young people, or fail to invest in them, unjust societies will be the result. Unjust societies are not peaceful societies."

High rates of malnutrition and inadequate juvenile justice structures were among the key children's rights failures highlighted by the MINGUA report. Stunting from malnutrition affects nearly 50 per cent of all children.

The report also said the justice system fails young people because there is no distinct treatment of children, be they victims of abuse or juveniles in conflict with the law. Among many other examples, the report cited cases of juveniles being confined with convicted adult criminals.

The violations of children's rights documented in the MINUGUA report are hampering efforts to create a culture of respect for civil and political rights – and for democracy – among Guatemala´s younger generation, UNICEF said.

To strengthen the peace process, MINUGUA and UNICEF have suggested that the Government of Guatemala take the following steps:

· Legal reform to establish national legislation consistent with the Convention of the Rights of the Child;

· Efforts to improve children's access to education and health services, as well as protection from exploitative child labour and trafficking;

· Establishment of a priority programme to reduce malnutrition;

· And reform of the justice system, including approval of a new Code for Children and Adolescents, as well as measures to ensure a distinct judicial process for juvenile offenders, as well as for children taken into custody for their own protection.

UNICEF said it would continue to work with the UN Mission in Guatemala to strengthen children's rights as a key component of long-term peace-building, and praised the attention given to the report by the Government and Guatemalan media.

"UNICEF welcomes this common effort with MINUGUA to draw attention to the situation of the Guatemalan child. The report embodies the commitment of UNICEF and the UN family to protecting children's rights, not only during war but also after a conflict has finished," Bellamy said.

"What MINUGUA has done should be emulated by other peace-building efforts around the world. UNICEF would welcome the opportunity to work with other peace missions the way we have worked with MINUGUA," Bellamy added. "Children's issues need to be put at the centre of peace-building efforts everywhere."

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Note to Editors

UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy will be in Colombia on Wednesday 20 December for a brief official visit and meetings with top government officials, including President Pastrana. Ms. Bellamy will also meet with former street children in a rehabilitation program supported by UNICEF, hold an afternoon press conference, and meet with UN officials in the country. Ms. Bellamy's visit will focus on new efforts needed to protect Colombia's children from life on the streets, from recruitment into militia groups, and from violence.

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For further information or for copies of the MINUGUA report
"The Situation of Children and Adolescents in the Peace Process,"
please contact:

Alfred Ironside, UNICEF Media, New York (212) 326-7261
aironside@unicef.org

Christian Salazar, UNICEF Senior Programme Officer, Guatemala (502) 333-6373
csalazar@unicef.org