Children's participation in other Special Session events

The massive and active participation of children was one of the most impressive features of the Special Session. Overall more than 600 children attended the Session, including 50 young journalists who covered the various events. Children participated in the Children's Forum and addressed the General Assembly. They also took part in the Special Session itself as part of government and NGO delegations. And they were prominent participants in many official and supporting events, just as they had been during the preparatory process at the national, regional and global levels. Following are highlights of their participation at the Special Session.

In addition to their active participation at the Children's Forum and their address to the General Assembly, children were involved in a number of other events. They participated not only in other formal meetings of the Special Session, including round-table discussions, intergenerational dialogue sessions and a UN Security Council meeting on Children and Armed Conflict. They were also actively involved in a number of supporting events including the Forum on Women's Leadership for Children and the Parliamentary Forum organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and UNICEF.

• Children were involved in three high-level round-table discussions where they spoke directly with Heads of State and Delegations.
  
  
• Five intergenerational dialogues were organized between children and heads of delegation and UN agencies, allowing them to meet in small groups to discuss issues of concern. The dialogues were lively and informative.
  
  
• On the eve of the Special Session on Children, the UN Security Council made a commitment to redouble its efforts to protect children affected by armed conflict.
  The Security Council pledge came after powerful testimony by children affected by war and by experts on the issue of children and conflict. Eliza, a 17-year-old girl from Bosnia and Herzegovina, conveyed a message to the Security Council from the Children's Forum, saying, "War and politics have always been an adult's game, but children have always been the losers." Read more about the Security Council meeting on Children and Armed Conflict.
  
  
• Three representatives from the Children's Forum were chosen to join the Forum on Women's Leadership for Children, where the children presented a statement. They each took turns speaking, closing most movingly with these words:
  "We pledge an equal partnership in this fight for children's rights, and while we promise to support the actions you take on behalf of children, we also ask for your commitment and support in the actions we are taking.
  "We are taking our step to the middle and extending our hands to you. Our question is, will you meet us halfway?"
  
  
• Children participated in a Parliamentary Forum on Child Rights, jointly convened by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and UNICEF. The Forum intended to mobilize parliaments in industrialized and developing countries to take on children's issues. About 250 parliamentarians from 75 parliaments attended the forum and a number of children represented children's parliaments. Bintou Sonko from the Gambia represented the Children's Forum telling participants, "We want youth to have a say in governance." Of the floor's 40 interventions, children made 10, mentioning, among other things, the importance of adopting a child-rights perspective in all legislative matters. Read more about the Parliamentary forum.
  
  
• Child participants gathered with government and NGO representatives to review the Children's Forum and the issues it had covered in an event entitled Under-18 Task Force: Feedback from the Children's Forum. The event was planned and conducted entirely by the children themselves; eight young presenters - members of the Rapporteur Committee - outlined the issues and then suggested what governments and young people can do to address them. The children recommended the establishment of leadership training workshops as well as national, regional and international children's councils. These councils would meet regularly to monitor governments' efforts to fulfil their promises to children. The children pledged to be active in their communities when they return home. "We take it upon ourselves to go back home and fight for ourselves," said one young person in the audience. "We know what's best for us." Another said, "We are the builders of humanity - give us the warmth of the equator." Read more about this event

More detailed information is available on all the events in which children and adolescents were involved on the Supporting events pages.