Executive Speeches
To the 3rd Substantive Session of the Preparatory Committee for
the General Assembly Special Session on Children
New York – 11 June 2001
 Madame
Chairman, Madame Deputy Secretary-General, Excellencies, Distinguished
Delegates, Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen:
On behalf of the United Nations Children’s
Fund, I am delighted to join the Chairman and the Deputy Secretary-General
in welcoming you to this, the Third Substantive Session of the Preparatory
Committee for the General Assembly Special Session on Children.
The presence here of so many delegations,
including over 50 Personal Representatives, is a measure of the
seriousness and resolve that governments bring to the cause of the
world’s children – a trust that the Secretary-General
has called sacred beyond all others.
My Friends, we are embarked on a momentous
undertaking. It is, quite simply, to reshape the world – and
make it a place where all children can grow to adulthood in health,
in peace and in dignity.
The international community promised to
do no less when it came together at the World Summit for Children
a decade ago – and agreed on an ambitious but eminently feasible
agenda for child survival, health, nutrition, education and protection.
In so doing, the 71 heads of State and Government
and 88 other senior representatives vowed to put the best interests
of children first – in good times and bad, in peace or in war,
in prosperity or in economic distress – and to work within
the framework of international cooperation, using the maximum available
resources.
Yet those leaders had no illusions about
the difficulty of the task they had set for themselves. As they
acknowledged on Sept. 30, 1990, “the well-being of children
requires political action at the highest level – and we are
determined to take that action.”
And so they have – and the results
are compellingly documented in We the Children, the Secretary-General’s
End-Decade Review of Follow-up to the World Summit for Children.
Because of political action at the highest
level, the Convention on the Rights of the Child is now the most
widely proclaimed human rights instrument in history.
Because of political action at the highest
level, the world has witnessed significant gains for children in
the fight against preventable diseases and malnutrition, in increased
access to education, in the promotion of breast-feeding and early
childhood care and development, and in access to safe water.
Because of political action at the highest
level, we have seen changes in national law and public policy that
have set the stage for improving the lives of children the world
over, including the Optional Protocols to the CRC on the plight
of children in armed conflict and children who are trafficked and
abused; the entry into force of a global ban on anti-personnel landmines,
and the approval of an International Criminal Court that will challenge
the impunity of war crimes, especially where children are victimised.
Madame Chairman, these and other issues,
such as hazardous and exploitative child labour and all forms of
violence, much of it gender-based, are increasingly being placed
high on national and global political agendas
This is remarkable progress, literally unimaginable
half a century ago. And none of it would have come to pass without
the vital partnerships that have developed between governments,
donors, international institutions and diverse elements of civil
society, including children and families, non-governmental organisations,
the private sector and the business community, and religious and
grassroots groups.
Distinguished Delegates, by your efforts
here this week, you can help lay the foundation for a world that
is truly fit for children. It is the world that my predecessor dreamed
of – and that made the World Summit for Children the most systematically
followed-up and rigorously monitored development conference of its
time.
The completion of that legacy is in your
hands. Your leadership is vital if we are to blaze an action-oriented
path to the remaining Summit goals – and draft a bold agenda
for children that addresses the challenges of the 21st Century as
it builds on the successes and the lessons of the 1990s.
Distinguished Delegates, I truly hope that
your work this week will result in consensus on all items of the
draft Outcome Document. But the real work – the work that will
make a difference in the life of every child – will not be
completed here, or at the Special Session, but in the years and
decades to come – and if we are to succeed, your leadership
and vision will be essential.
Madame Chairman, over the last month, in
regional meetings from Beijing and Berlin to Cairo and Marrakech
and Minsk, I have seen for myself the energy and innovation with
which the situation of children and young people is being addressed
– and to observe how prominent a role children have played
in these regional-level interactions. It is my sincere hope that
the extraordinary vitality of those voices will enrich and inform
your preparatory process – and indeed, the Special Session
itself.
Half a billion children have also spoken
through youth opinion polls around the world, and they have singled
out discrimination and violence, child survival and well-being,
and increased access to education as areas of greatest need.
My Friends, each of us has the power to
help make the world a better place for children. That is why we
at UNICEF and others have launched a campaign that we are calling
Say Yes for Children. Say Yes is an opportunity for citizens everywhere
to stand up and be counted – to pledge support for 10 actions
and principles that are needed to improve the lives and protect
the rights of children and young people everywhere.
Nelson Mandela, President Kim Dae-Jung of
the Republic of Korea, and Secretary-General Kofi Annan are among
the leaders and celebrities appearing in a series of Say Yes television
pledge spots. But perhaps you should see all this for yourself.
So let me close with a brief video excerpt that will show the real
backdrop for your work
Distinguished Delegates, the decade of the
90s began with the entry into force of the Convention on the Rights
of the Child – and the extraordinary World Summit for Children.
Now the 21st Century is beginning with the Special Session on Children
– and a chance for the whole world to Say Yes to the right
of every child to a full and healthy life. We dare not let this
opportunity slip. I wish you well in your efforts.
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