This page is background information, last updated in May 2002 and still available for reference. For the latest on the Special Session on Children, please go to the Special Session index.

Global Movement for Children seeks to build on momentum

NEW YORK, 10 May 2002 - Now that the Global Movement for Children (GMfC) has received 94 million pledges to 'Say Yes for Children', what comes next?

In Maputo, Mozambique, 12-year-old Kamo Masilo is flanked by leading child-rights advocate Graça Machel and former South African President Nelson Mandela as he reads about 'Say Yes' on the campaign's web site. All three then make 'Say Yes' pledges. Click here to view the 'Say Yes' photoessay.

Leaders of the convening committee of the GMfC met today with youth delegates and representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) at the UN Special Session on Children to share ways of building on the movement's successes, giving it authority, and translating its visions into reality. Members of the committee include the heads of UNICEF, Save the Children, CARE, World Vision, the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, and Plan International.

One child-rights activist from Malawi said the GMfC must build bridges between organizations of all types without losing touch with the grassroots. "Who are we leaving out?" was the question she urged all present to ask themselves.

Child-rights advocates Graça Machel and Nelson Mandela kicked off the 'Say Yes for Children' campaign in 2001, asking supporters to pledge to 'Say Yes' to 10 key priorities for children's rights. During the Special Session, Mr. Mandela was formally presented with the tally of 94 million pledges cast already.

"If each one of us went to a village or encouraged young people to speak up in their families, we wouldn't need a ten-year action plan," said Carla Noelle Solon Perfect, 17, from the Philippines. "We'd need only two years to change the world. This may sound idealistic, but change starts with ideals."

The good news is that change is happening, despite the obstacles and often overwhelming challenges faced by such a movement. In Mali, NGOs and ordinary citizens have arranged national and regional meetings of all those involved in the children's rights movement. In India, Malawi, and countless other nations, children's parliaments have been set up and have turned young people into skilled policymakers in their communities.

As one participant in today's panel on the GMfC said, "The challenge is not to just think globally and act locally. It's to think and act both globally and locally."