Children call for action as Special Session opens
8 May 2002, NEW YORK - Two children made history today
when they addressed the opening session of the United
Nations General Assembly Special Session on Children,
the first children ever to address the General Assembly.
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| Gabriela
Azurduy Arrieta, 13, from Bolivia, was one of two
Children's Forum delegates who presented the recommendations
of the Forum to the UN General Assembly at the opening
of the Special Session on Children on 8 May.
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The Special Session, which continues through 10 May,
is itself a landmark, the first such Session devoted
exclusively to children and the first to include them
as official delegates. It was convened to re-energize
commitment to the health, development and dignity of
children worldwide.
"We are the world's children," began Gabriela
Azurduy Arrieta, a 13-year-old delegate from Bolivia.
"We are the victims of exploitation and abuse.
We are street children. We are the children of war."
Gabriela and another delegate, 17-year-old Audrey Cheynut
from Monaco, read from a statement developed over three
days by more than 350 young people from around the world
who attended the Children's Forum in New York 5-7 May.
At the Forum, young delegates discussed issues critical
to the well-being of children and developed a joint
call to action, "A World Fit for Us - Children's
Forum Message," before their participation in the
Special Session. For many, it was the first time they
had expressed their views in an international setting.
"We are children whose voices are not being heard,"
their statement read. "It is time we are taken
into account."
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| United
Nations General Assembly President Dr. Han Seung-soo
(centre) of the Republic of Korea addresses the
UN Special Session on Children. |
More than 60 presidents, prime ministers or their deputies
and many high-ranking government delegations came to
New York to take part in the Special Session. During
the next three days they will take stock of progress
for children since the 1990 World Summit on Children
and work towards establishing a new set of goals for
the world's youngest citizens. The children's statement
and participation in the Special Session will influence
this action plan or Outcome Document, 'A World Fit for
Children'.
"There is no issue more unifying, more urgent
or more universal than the welfare of our children,"
said UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who has given
his full support to the Special Session. "There
is no issue more important."
Addressing the Assembly, Mr. Annan reported on important
achievements made in the last half century - all of
which once seemed impossible, from the eradication of
smallpox to the treaty banning landmines. But turning
his attention to the children in the audience, he noted
that far too many efforts on their behalf had fallen
short. "We, the grown-ups, have failed you deplorably,"
he said. "One in three of you has suffered from
malnutrition before you turned five years old. One in
four of you has not been immunized against any disease.
Almost one in five of you is not attending school. We
must reverse these failures."
Mr. Annan implored the adults present, "Let us
not make children pay for our failures any more. Children
in this room are witnesses to our words. They and their
peers in every land have a right to expect us to turn
our words into action … and to build a world fit
for children."
Gabriela and Audrey were clear on what kind of world
the young delegates envisioned. They wanted an end to
war and exploitation, and the eradication of HIV/AIDS
and poverty. They asked that health care and education
be accessible to all children. They envisaged a world
where children were "actively involved in decision
making at all levels and in planning, implementing,
monitoring and evaluating all matters affecting the
rights of the child."
At the press conference following the children's presentation,
UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy introduced several
other delegates of the Children's Forum, including Laura
Hannant, 16, from Canada. Asked if she now had greater
understanding of the problems adults were facing, Laura
replied, "We understand some of their excuses but
we don't understand the reason why [so many] children
die every day, and I don't think adults really understand
the reason for this either, because there is no 'reason'
that makes sense."
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