|
|
|
| Executive
Speeches
Remarks to the Security Council on children in armed
conflict
by Carol Bellamy, UNICEF Executive Director
New York, May 2002 -
 Mr.
President, Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies
and Gentlemen:
Today, at the outset of the most important
international gathering on children in more than a decade,
the Security Council is again affirming its commitment
to children - and exercising its leadership in ensuring
that the protection of child rights is at the heart
of the international peace and security agenda.
|
Other
Security Council Speeches
|
|
|
Mr. President, as we speak, leaders from
every corner of the world are gathering in this house
to reaffirm their obligations to promote the rights
of every boy and girl - and to commit themselves to
creating a world fit for children, as set out in the
draft Outcome Document for the General Assembly Special
Session on Children.
It is an occasion at which we seek a
global consensus to mobilise resources and political
will to promote the survival and health of every child,
to assure the right of basic quality education, assistance
in combatting HIV/AIDS - and protection from harm and
exploitation.
I commend the Council for its role in
strengthening the protection of children in conflict
situations - and indeed, the draft Outcome Document
has drawn on the Council's exemplary work in this area.
I would also like to pay tribute to my
fellow speakers, the Special Representative of the Secretary
General on Children and Armed Conflict, Mr. Olara Otunnu,
for his tireless advocacy and to Madame Graça
Machel, for her exemplary leadership in placing this
vital issue on the international agenda.
Let me also acknowledge the work and
efforts of numerous international and national non-governmental
organisations, some of whom are present in the audience
today. They are among the most important of UNICEF's
partners. NGOs have shared their information and expertise
on children's issues with the Council, thanks to the
Arria Formula meetings organised for that purpose -
and UNICEF welcomes the Council's engagement with NGOs.
Mr. President, it is only through strong
partnerships that UNICEF is able to advance policies,
programmes, and strategies to strengthen the protection
of children in situations of armed conflict. UNICEF
recently supported the Government of Afghanistan in
conducting the largest ever back-to-school programme
for boys and girls in Afghanistan.
UNICEF will continue to invest in education,
in particular education for girls, as a means of ensuring
the long-term well-being and sustainable protection
of the rights of war-affected children. Education also
protects children from recruitment as soldiers and helps
reintegrate them into their communities after demobilisation.
In this connection, UNICEF is continuing its efforts
to support the demobilisation and reintegration of child
soldiers in countries such as Angola, Burundi, the Democratic
Republic of Congo, Colombia, and Sudan.
One of the biggest challenges in conflict
situations continues to be the difficulty of ensuring
full and unhindered access of children to essential
services. In an effort to promote access to children
in conflict situations, the international football association,
FIFA, and UNICEF will urge all parties to conflicts
to observe Days of Immunisation during the 2002 World
Cup, which starts at the end of the month. We hope that
football will help these children make a start on reclaiming
their childhoods.
Mr. President, children, especially girls,
are extremely vulnerable to abuse, sexual violence,
and rape perpetrated during armed conflicts.
The allegations of widespread sexual
abuse and exploitation against refugee and international
displaced children by humanitarian workers in West Africa
are of great concern to us. Mr. President, UNICEF remains
unwaveringly committed to ensuring the highest standards
of conduct for our staff, to improving our accountability
to the beneficiaries of humanitarian assistance, and
to ensuring that humanitarian assistance is provided
in a manner that protects children and prevents sexual
exploitation and abuse.
In giving Wilmot, Eliza and Jose an opportunity
to contribute to its meeting today, the Security Council
has again set a high standard for leadership - in this
case, by promoting the right of children to express
themselves freely and to participate in matters that
affect them.
The experiences of these young people
remind us of the daunting challenges that still lie
ahead. But in granting them a role in its proceedings,
the Security Council has, in its way, helped empower
a growing campaign to build a shared sense of responsibility
for the well-being of every child on earth - what UNICEF
and its partners call a Global Movement for Children.
I am confident that their calls to you to prevent war
and its devastating impact on children's rights and
their capacity to fulfill their potential have been
heard.
To succeed, the Global Movement must
enlist not only established leaders, but people of influence
representing every part of civil society, from non-governmental
organisations, religious groups and private enterprise
to people's movements, academia and the media, community
and grassroots groups, families - and children themselves.
It is only through such broad and committed
partnerships that we will reach the remaining goals
of the 1990 World Summit for children as this week's
Special Session affirms a comprehensive agenda for children
for the first years of this new century - an agenda
that includes ending the horrific abuse and exploitation
of children in armed conflict.
In conclusion, Mr. President, it is my
pleasure to introduce the young people you have so kindly
invited to address the Security Council today.
Wilmot is 16 years old and is from Liberia,
where he works actively with radio programmes and child
rights networking.
Eliza, 17 years old, is from Bosnia and
works as a volunteer with refugee children.
Jose, 18 years old and from East Timor,
works through a local NGO and the Catholic Church to
assist children living on the street.
All three are delegates to the Children's
Forum - and I know they are keen to share their thoughts
with the Security Council.
Thank you.
|
|
|
