Graça Machel: A child's best friend

Mrs. Graça Machel, an inspirational leader of the Global Movement for Children and the 'Say Yes for Children' campaign, will address the Security Council Meeting on Children and Armed Conflict during the week of the UN Special Session on Children. She is expected to urge governments to take specific action to protect children in conflict situations and to pay specific attention to the needs and rights of girls affected by armed conflict.

Mrs. Machel comes to the Special Session on Children as part of her leadership in the Global Movement, which she launched together with Mr. Nelson Mandela in May 2000. In a letter issued at the time of the launch, they wrote, "The future of our children lies in leadership and the choices leaders make."

From then until now, Mrs. Machel and Mr. Mandela have worked with governments, organizations and individuals around the globe to bring the world's attention to the Special Session on Children and to the decisions that will be made during this week. Time and again, their message has been one of leadership accountability to the children and young people of the world.

Mrs. Machel's activities throughout the Special Session reflect the depth of her commitment to the rights and well-being of children, her special expertise in working with those touched by war and violence, and her untiring advocacy on their behalf.

In addition to the Security Council address, she will take part in one of three intergenerational dialogues, sitting with heads of state and young people from war-affected countries, and join a panel discussion, "Protecting Children During Armed Conflict."

Mrs. Graça Machel is a former Minister of Education in Mozambique and the founder and president of Fundacao para o Desenvolvimento da Comunidade, a community foundation in Mozambique. In 1996, she presented her groundbreaking report to the United Nations on the impact of armed conflict on children and in 2001 she authored The Impact of War on Children, which updated her 1996 report.