Kofi Annan: We're preparing the future with children,
not for them
The children and young people who will be attending
the first-ever UN Special Session on Children from 8-10
May will help find solutions for making the world better
for children, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in an
interview.
| Video:
interview with United Nations Secretary-General
Kofi Annan |
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1: Why is this Special Session on Children so
important?
Listen to the answer
2: What will it be like having children and young
people at the UN?
Listen
to the answer
3: How can children make a difference to this
Special Session on Children?
Listen
to the answer
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format.
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"For the first time we are engaging them, and
I think it's a very exciting thing to do," said
Mr. Annan. "It wasn't so long ago that we were
all children. I hope that for a brief moment we will
all become children again, discuss with them as equals
and find a solution together for their future."
Children and young people will be part of official
government delegations and have the opportunity to speak
at key meetings - including addressing the UN General
Assembly, for the first time ever - as world leaders
meet in New York to discuss children's issues.
More than 350 children from all over the world will
be attending the Special Session's Children's Forum,
which opened on Sunday 5 May. The forum ends on the
evening of 7 May.
Asked what it will be like having so many young delegates
at the UN, Mr. Annan said: "I think it will be
wonderful. It will bring the building alive. After all,
whenever we're tackling any issue, we go to the experts.
We go to the experts and talk to them. I think children
are experts at being children and it is good that we
bring them in to discuss this issue, and to discuss
the future we're preparing with them, not for them."
The Special Session on Children gives world leaders
an opportunity to reaffirm what they agreed to do in
1990 at the World Summit for Children, said Mr. Annan.
"It is important that we come together and focus
on children, and the Special Session will give us an
opportunity to do exactly that," Mr. Annan said.
"To talk about what we have achieved since 1990,
where are we going from here, and what can we do to
make the world better for children."
Biography:
Kofi Annan: Secretary-General
of the United Nations
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