| This
page is background information, last updated in May
2002 and still available for reference. For the latest on
the Special Session on Children, please go to the Special
Session index.
Abigail’s Diary: Thursday 9 May 2002
I can already feel the Special Session coming to an end,
but I know the real work is just starting.
Today was a rainy day. We didn’t expect it. It’s
been cold the past few days, but today was freezing. The Philippines
delegation was supposed to be at a South-East Asia meeting
at 8:00 a.m., but because of the rain and traffic we didn’t
get there until 9:00. The meeting was already over, so we
just took the opportunity to check if we had any e-mail. After
that, we wanted to go to the UN building to have some breakfast,
but unfortunately we didn’t have umbrellas. So we ran
from UNICEF House over to the UN. We had baked potatoes and
bacon for breakfast.
Then we went straight to the Dag Hammarskjold Auditorium
for the children’s participation event focusing on National
Plans of Action. It was a chance for me to speak about how
the Philippines is quite advanced in this area. The session
went on until 1:00 p.m.
During lunch, I was asked if I’d like to do an interview
for CNN. I said yes. They wanted me to talk about my real
feelings and frustrations on television. Tao went with me
to the interview. (Thanks, Tao!) Then I went to the Parliamentarians
Forum. The discussion there was very formal, but intense.
I would have stayed until the end if it hadn’t been my
turn to sit at the Children and Young People’s Booth.
It was really fun having the chance to be there, seeing people
walk to and fro.
Afterwards, the Philippine delegates gathered together, and
we all went to the Helmsley Hotel and then on to Chinatown.
We rode the subway down there. The trains are better in the
Philippines and much cheaper. The place we went to was very
like the Philippines. It was rice time again. But I had one
problem: I don’t know how to use chopsticks. By the time
I get home, I’m sure I’ll know how. I’ll practice.
When we got back to the hotel, I had a chance to rest and
pray. In the devotional book, I read that wherever God brings
a Christian, He will use him, and a person can be of service
to God even in a strange land. I realized that the message
was really for me. I pray that God will continue to inspire
and guide me.
UNICEF supports the right of every child to be heard,
and therefore provides this opportunity for children to voice
their views and impressions of the United Nations Special
Session on Children. The report above reflects the opinions
of an individual child delegate to the Special Session and
does not represent the policies or positions of UNICEF.
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