|
|
|
|
Press Release
UNICEF Head Urges Leaders to Invest
in Children as Key to Global Development and Stability
Comments Come Ahead of Major United
Nations Conference on Children
NEW YORK, 2 May 2002 - World leaders must
make strong commitments to their children's well-being
and, more importantly, follow through on these promises
with concrete actions, the head of the United Nations
Children's Fund said today. In comments preceding the
most important international conference on children
in over a decade, Carol Bellamy, Executive Director
of UNICEF, said that "investing in children is
synonymous with investing in a more prosperous and stable
world."
"World leaders today are focused on peace and
security, and what we must do to achieve it. Our view
is that they must invest in children. Children are the
key force driving human development and global stability,"
Bellamy said. "It's foolish to think that there
is no connection between the state of the world today
and the fact that hundreds of millions of children are
denied an education, are not immunized, and are malnourished,
exploited and raised on diets of poverty and violence."
"If we want to overcome poverty and the instability
it breeds, we must start by investing in our young people,"
Bellamy added. "I implore national leaders
to seriously examine their records on children. Are
you getting all your children into the classroom? Are
you protecting all your children against disease? Are
they safe from abuse, exploitation and violence? Unfortunately,
we already know the answers. We know we have work to
do."
Bellamy said the deplorable situation of hundreds of
millions of children around the world largely stems
from a lack of leadership. She urged world leaders to
act decisively on their commitments in the areas of
child health, education and protection, starting with
the May 8-10 United Nations General Assembly Special
Session on Children. The goal of the Special Session
is to move children to the center of every government's
agenda and to emphasize the link between the welfare
of children and the development of societies.
More than 60 heads of state or government and 170 high-level
delegations are expected to attend the meeting, which
is a follow up to the 1990 World Summit for Children.
Nearly 350 child delegates will also take part in the
formal debates and dozens of supporting events, along
with more than 2,000 delegates representing non-government
children's organizations.
Statistics State the Case
Statistics recently compiled by UNICEF highlight the
troubling condition of children around the world. One
in twelve children die before the age of five every
year, often from readily preventable causes. Malnutrition
levels are barely down in Asia and have actually increased
in sub-Saharan Africa since 1990. Around one out of
every six people is without safe drinking water and
two out of five are without adequate sanitation - the
majority of them children. Nearly 120 million children
don't attend school.
The UNICEF chief said that funding remains one of
the crucial shortfalls of governmental commitment. "Many
governments simply don't give children the resources
they deserve - and that goes for both developing countries
and donor nations," said Ms. Bellamy. "Developing
world governments must dedicate more of their budgets
to basic social services like health and education.
Wealthy countries can help by accelerating debt relief
and earmarking more aid directly to these same services."
The Special Session will produce a declaration and
plan of action designed to improve child well-being
over the next ten years. This outcome document, A World
Fit for Children (available at www.unicef.org/specialsession),
to be agreed by all Member States of the United Nations,
is built around a set of 21 goals on child health, education,
protection and the prevention of HIV/AIDS. Key goals
include reducing infant and maternal morality, expanding
access to clean water and sanitation, and reaching universal
primary education.
"We have 21 goals world leaders can embrace.
But how can we move from the mixed results of today
to real success for tomorrow?" Bellamy asked.
"The difference will come from our leaders. They
must provide real commitment, real follow-up and real
action for children. And the place to start, to renew
their dedication to children, is at this Special Session
of the General Assembly."
Citizens Support Change
A key issue at the Special Session will be governmental
accountability. Ms. Bellamy pointed to the success of
a pledge campaign for child rights and development,
called "Say Yes for Children," that garnered
nearly 100 million pledges from people around the world
over the last year. The pledges will be handed over
to world leaders on May 6. "We have a growing movement
of people numbering nearly 100 million. They are demanding
that governments put the rights and well-being of children
above all other concerns," Bellamy said. "They
are saying simply and powerfully: if national leaders
fail, they must be held accountable."
* * *
For further information, please contact:
Liza Barrie,
UNICEF Media, New York
(212) 326-7593
Jehan Sedky-Lavandero,
UNICEF Media, New York
(212) 326-7269
View and order the Special Session video b-roll at http://www.unicef.org/broadcast/brolls/specialsession/
A live satellite news feed will be available twice
daily during the Special Session.
Learn more at:
http://www.unicef.org/broadcast/feeds/
|
|
|
