General Assembly Session 58 meeting 40

Ms. Kang Kyung-wha (Republic of Korea)

My delegation welcomes this opportunity to review the follow-up to the General Assembly's special session on children, which was held from 8 to 10 May last year. No issue is more relevant to the present and future well-being of our world than that of children. Indeed, "A world fit for children", as the outcome document of the special session is called, would be a world best fit for all. Progress towards the major goals identified in the document will be a major contribution to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The Republic of Korea is resolved to fully realizing those goals.

In the Republic of Korea the special session and the preparations leading up to it served to further consolidate the reorientation in policy-thinking on children. In the past, the focus had been on support for children in need. However, the revision of our child welfare act in 2000 marked a shift towards children's rights in general. The shift was further institutionalized with the formulation of the comprehensive plan for child protection and rearing, which was published on 5 May 2002 -- Children's Day -- on the eve of the special session.

The comprehensive plan incorporates the elements of "A world fit for children" that are most pertinent to areas requiring further improvement in the Republic of Korea and is organized in a way that will most effectively build upon the achievements attained thus far. The plan covers 48 measures in five areas: enhancing children's rights; improving the health and welfare of children; strengthening children's safety; protecting children from harmful environments; and supporting the sound rearing of children. To oversee the implementation of the plan, the Committee for Child Protection and Rearing, which is composed of 13 vice-ministerial-level officials from the relevant ministries and offices, has been established to devise annual programmes for the implementation of the plan and to undertake regular reviews of achievements.

Among the 48 measures, of particular note for its cross-cutting implications for future policy-making is the development of the children's rights index. As called for in "A world fit for children" and further emphasized in the Bali Consensus -- the outcome of the sixth East Asia and the Pacific Ministerial Consultation on Children -- pertinent data is crucial to devising effective policies. My Government has therefore commissioned the Institute for Health and Social Affairs to develop a children's rights index. The existing system of data collection has lacked a unified categorization of age groups for children, and is therefore insufficient to cover all children and all areas under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The new index should lead to vast improvements in the collection of data pertaining to children. It will serve as the basis of a white paper on children's rights, to be published every five years, beginning in 2005.

Of the four major goal areas elaborated in "A world fit for children", I wish to focus on education, which was also identified in the Bali Consensus as an overarching imperative in fulfilling the commitments made with regard to children.

Education has always been given the highest priority in the Republic of Korea, and educated citizens have led the drive behind the country's economic development and democratic growth. The opportunities for children are already wide and still expanding. Currently, boys and girls are equally entitled to nine years of compulsory education. Most children advance to high school. There is little gender disparity in primary and secondary education. As of 2001, 67.6 per cent of girls and 73.1 per cent of boys advanced to college upon graduation from high school.

The Government's current focus is on achieving gender equality and eliminating gender discrimination in the content of education. A gender-equal curriculum for primary and secondary education has been worked out. Training programmes for teachers based on gender equality are also being strengthened. The Republic of Korea is fully committed to fostering gender equality in and through education, and will continue its efforts in that regard.

Furthermore, we believe that the empowerment of women is crucial in the promotion of the rights and well-being of children. Measures to empower women such as strengthened maternity protection and child care outside the home have a direct bearing on the healthy growth of children. The Ministry of Gender Equality, which was established in 2001, is therefore working closely with the Ministry of Public Health and Welfare and other relevant offices to devise policies that optimize the benefits to both women and children.

Another focus to improve the education sector is on children with disabilities. Measures in that area are an important part of the national programme for the promotion of the welfare of the disabled, which was established in 1998. Currently, the second phase of the programme, for the period 2003-2007, includes measures to provide quality education for disabled children suitable for the knowledge-based information age, to expand model schools for inclusive education, to improve support centres for disabled children and to provide textbooks suited to the needs of children with visual impairments.

While promoting the goals of "A world fit for children" at home, the Republic of Korea has also been an active participant in regional and global initiatives on children. The Asia-Europe Meeting's (ASEM) Action on Child Welfare and the ASEM Initiative to Combat Trafficking in Women and Children are just some of the recent forums through which we have shared our experiences and policies with others on the pending issues related to children.

The official development aid programmes of the Republic of Korea have also incorporated projects for children in the East Asia and Pacific regions, including the construction of primary schools and hospitals, the promotion of children's health projects and the dispatch of medical specialists in paediatrics and obstetrics. We hope that those efforts will contribute to the enhancement of the well-being of children and to the achievement of the goals of "A world fit for children" in the region.

Finally, the Republic of Korea is fully behind the efforts made by the United Nations on behalf of children. In particular, we applaud UNICEF's dedication to helping the most vulnerable and needy children of the world, in collaboration with other United Nations bodies. We have supported its activities in the field with financial and material assistance. The successful outcome of the special session was in no small measure due to the dedication of UNICEF acting as its secretariat. Likewise, the successful implementation of "A world fit for children" calls for its continued active engagement in advocacy, humanitarian intervention and development assistance on behalf of children. In collaboration with other agencies of the United Nations and as a complement and support to the efforts of Member States, that engagement would provide the building blocks for the construction of a world fit for children.

Mr. Buffa (Paraguay)

My delegation aligns itself with the statement made yesterday by the delegation of Peru on behalf of the countries of the Rio Group.

The Government of the Republic of Paraguay attaches priority to promoting and protecting the fundamental rights of children and adolescents, particularly in conjunction with the set of objectives and targets agreed at the May 2002 special session of the General Assembly on children. The outcome document of the session, "A world fit for children" (resolution S-27/2, annex), reaffirmed the international community's commitment to implementing the remaining programmes and tasks of the 1990 World Summit for Children.

We should note that the special session was the first time that delegations comprised children and adolescents as official members, more than 400 of whom participated from more than 150 countries. The objectives and targets specifically established in four priority spheres of action -- promoting a healthy life; access to quality education; the need to protect children and adolescents from maltreatment, exploitation and violence; and combating HIV/AIDS -- sought to strengthen and provide new impetus to countries' commitments to attaining the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 through the definition of essential and concrete intermediate goals for 2010.

We should also seek to integrate international objectives into national Government plans and policies. In that connection, we have agreed to formulate or strengthen, by the end of 2003, national and regional plans of action designed for children with the participation of civil society, including non-governmental organizations and children and adolescents, whose opinions should be taken into account in all matters that affect them.

In that context, I wish to take this opportunity to announce that Paraguay recently drafted and adopted the national plan for children and adolescents, a five-year short-term plan for 2003 to 2008, consistent with the national childhood and adolescence policy formulated for a 10-year period, 2003 to 2013, which has greater and longer-term objectives aimed at comprehensive and substantive development of this majority sector of society, which represents approximately 47 per cent of Paraguay's population.

Since the World Summit for Children, important progress has been made in Paraguay with regard to the system for protecting and promoting the rights of children and adolescents. In that connection, the childhood and adolescence code is the chief regulatory framework protecting children's rights. It imposes a doctrine of comprehensive protection and incorporates the principle of the best interests of the child, in keeping with the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

In the same way, Paraguay has ratified the principal instruments of the inter-American and global systems for protecting and promoting children's rights, including very recently the second Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. Likewise, the national secretariat of childhood and adolescence is promoting measures aimed at early ratification of International Labour Organization Convention 138, concerning the minimum age for admission to employment, which has already been endorsed by the Paraguayan Congress and is currently before the Chamber of Deputies.

In this field, there are favourable signs in Paraguay. On the one hand, decentralized efforts and mechanisms for protection, promotion and development of all children and adolescents have passed their experimental stage and are now being permanently financed and assessed. I am referring to the municipal childhood councils, which aim to protect children's best interests and to implement public policies at the local governmental level throughout the national territory with the central administration's decentralized agencies, civil society organizations and community organizations for children and adolescents. A concrete example of that is the commitment to implement a programme to provide a glass of milk to every child attending primary school. Currently, there is renewed effort in the central department responsible for that programme, whose outreach is expected to be 300,000 children.

However, much remains to be done. In that connection, we cannot fail to mention our great concern about the number of children and adolescents who still live on the streets in an urgent situation without access to a minimum education and who are subject to all kinds of abuses and excesses. We are also concerned about the high rates of school dropouts due to premature admission to employment and to the pregnancies of school-age girls.

In the area of education, I should like to reaffirm Paraguay's firm commitment to strengthening educational reform, which not only aspires to tailor the comprehensive training of children and adolescents to current needs and challenges, but also seeks to optimize the educational system's scarce resources. Therefore, mindful that education and comprehensive training of children and adolescents are essential for development and the enjoyment of human dignity, the Government of Paraguay proposes to increase its social capital through innovative strategies that will reverse the perverse cycle of poverty.

Mr. Chaimongkol (Thailand)

My delegation wishes to thank the Secretary-General for his report on follow-up to the United Nations special session on children (A/58/333), held in May 2002. We are pleased to learn that one year has passed with a good start in the implementation of the Plan of Action contained in the outcome document, entitled "A world fit for children" (resolution S-27/2, annex), adopted at the special session. Thailand reaffirms its commitment to pursuing the four goal areas of the Plan of Action: promoting healthy lives; providing quality education; protecting children against abuse, exploitation and violence; and combating HIV/AIDS.

Thailand attaches high priority to protecting children against abuse, exploitation and violence. The Thai Government has striven to prevent and suppress all forms of exploitation of children, particularly trafficking in children. Apart from strengthening legislative measures, the national policy and plan of action to prevent and suppress trafficking in women and children was adopted with an integrated and comprehensive approach to addressing the problem, particularly its root causes. Moreover, special attention has been devoted to girls' education. Education, both formal and non-formal, and vocational training have been provided to girls with a view to empowering them.

It is to be noted that a consistent spirit of partnership among governmental and non-governmental sectors, including the private sector, non-governmental organizations and civil society, has been forged to ensure that every effort is made to promote and protect children in Thailand.

As international cooperation is required in the prevention and eradication of trafficking in children, Thailand has developed close cooperation with the United Nations system and the Governments of countries in the Greater Mekong subregion -- namely Cambodia, China, the Lao People's Democratic Republic and Myanmar -- to step up cooperation in combating trafficking in women and children in the region. At a bilateral level, Thailand also concluded, in May 2003, an agreement with Cambodia on the suppression of trafficking in women and children and on assistance to trafficked victims.

As mentioned in the report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Thailand is pleased to facilitate conflict resolution by providing a venue for peace talks by the conflicting parties. We are particularly delighted that the recent peace talks in Thailand have resulted in the reaffirmation of the commitments undertaken by the parties concerned to refrain from using children under 18 years of age in combat and from recruiting those under 17.

My delegation wishes to underline the importance of the universal nature of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which now has 192 State parties. We also welcome the increasing number of countries that have acceded to its optional protocols. As a party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child since 1992, Thailand welcomes the enlargement of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, which will further strengthen the capacity of the Committee to fulfil more effectively its mandate.

In this connection, my delegation shares concerns about the increasingly heavy workload and the backlog problem faced by the Committee, which are currently affecting the Committee's effectiveness in addressing global concerns on children-related issues. We therefore wish to support the efforts of the Committee to improve its methods of work and its management in order to better deal with the challenges facing it. We should not forget that the effectiveness of the Committee is vital to achieving "A world fit for children".

Mr. Dhakal (Nepal)

At the outset, I wish to join previous speakers in expressing my delegation's sincere appreciation to the Secretary-General for his comprehensive report (A/58/333) on the follow-up to the United Nations special session on children.

My delegation also wishes to express its appreciation to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children in Armed Conflict for his analytical report on the protection of children affected by armed conflict (A/58/328).

Humanity is on a perennial quest for peace, prosperity and justice for all. Children must be at centre stage of that quest, as they are the future of our societies. For them to become educated, healthy and productive citizens, they must have the right to proper education, adequate health facilities, and a conducive economic and social environment.

Today millions of children are victims of poverty, illiteracy, disease and armed conflict across the world. Eleven million children still die every year, mostly of preventable or curable diseases. The HIV/AIDS pandemic has been taking its toll on millions of innocent children as well. Atrocities and brutality against children continue unabated in conflict areas.

This, indeed, must change. We have a set of global blueprints for action in place. The Convention on the Rights of the Child sets out broad parameters for a better environment for children. The Millennium Development Goals and the Declaration on "A world fit for children" identify steps to change the world for and with children in a time-bound manner. The Monterrey Consensus and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation reinforce these and other goals.

We need to pool our resources and energies to implement those blueprints in order to protect the rights of children and to uplift their status in society. The multidimensional nature of children's problems requires that we make coherent and concerted efforts at the national, regional and international levels. Nepal expresses its appreciation to the United Nations for its endeavours to build a common platform for action and to bring about much-needed coherence and cooperation.

The task before us is formidable. The goals of reducing poverty by half and of providing all children with primary education by the year 2015, as well as other global agreed goals, are laudable, appropriate and, indeed, ambitious. Business as usual will not get us where we want to go. We must muster greater political will in order to accomplish our task and redouble our efforts to achieve those goals.

Nepal is fully committed to protecting the rights of children and to promoting their development. We have become party to a number of international and regional human rights instruments, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child and International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions No. 138, on Minimum Age for Admission to Employment, and No. 182, on the Worst Forms of Child Labour. Nepal has already signed the two Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. We have also submitted our combined second and third periodic reports, as stipulated by the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

To translate those commitments into improved status for children, Nepal has taken a number of legislative, policy and administrative measures. The 1990 Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal guarantees the protection of the rights and interests of children and prohibits trafficking in human beings, slavery, serfdom or forced labour.

The Children's Act of 1992 spells out the rights of children in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child and prescribes measures to safeguard them. The Child Labour -- Prohibition and Control -- Act of 1999 prohibits the employment of children under the age of 16. There are also several provisions in the civil code to protect the interests of children.

A strategic action plan has been formulated to address problems in seven key sectors, including child bonded labour; child rag pickers; child porters; child domestic workers; children in mines; children in the carpet sector; and trafficking in girls and sexual or labour exploitation. There is a special focus on promoting a healthy life; providing quality education; protecting children against abuse, exploitation and violence; and combating HIV/AIDS.

A master plan has been prepared to eliminate the worst forms of child labour by 2007 and all forms of child labour by 2010. The overriding objective of the current tenth five-year plan is to reduce poverty through interventions in the education, health, sanitation and rural development sectors. The plan aims to raise the literacy rate to 63 per cent and to increase school enrolment substantially. Free primary education for all, free textbooks for girl students at that level, as well as scholarships for Dalit and disadvantaged children, are some of the key features of our strategy that have been in the process of implementation in the education sector for some time now.

An integrated health service that provides primary health care, family planning services and immunization was introduced in our country some time ago. Immunization has reached more than 90 per cent of our country's children. Emphasis has been placed on providing safe drinking water and sanitation facilities. Those programmes are integral to our efforts to alleviate poverty and improve overall condition of children. As part of our overall strategy, a comprehensive national plan of action on children is also being implemented, with the assistance of UNICEF and other United Nations agencies.

To implement those programmes, Nepal established a Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare and other necessary institutional frameworks. The Human Rights Commission, the Women's Commission and juvenile benches in district courts have been set up to protect children's rights. A high-level central child-welfare board and district child-welfare boards have been set up in all 75 districts to promote the rights of the child and to mobilize local communities and resources to address problems faced by children at the district level.

His Majesty's Government has been working in close cooperation with all stakeholders at home and abroad to make possible the implementation of various development programmes aimed at children. It has sought the full participation of non-governmental organizations and the private sector in those activities.

At the regional level, we signed the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Convention on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution and the SAARC Convention on Regional Arrangements for the Promotion of Child Welfare in South Asia at the Eleventh Summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, which was held in Kathmandu in January 2002. The Conventions will complement global and national efforts to create a world fit for children.

Despite those efforts, poverty persists and children continue to suffer in Nepal. The Maoist insurgency has further worsened the situation. The Maoists have been disrupting much-needed development activities, destroying infrastructure and recruiting children as child soldiers. Nepal, a least developed country, needs peace to be able to implement the various programmes and activities aimed at the protection of children's rights and the promotion of development. The Government has been seeking to resolve the Maoist problem through dialogue, while at the same time taking measures to protect lives and property from Maoist brutalities and to safeguard liberty and freedom from the insurgents' ambition to destroy democracy.

Nepal needs additional financial and technical cooperation from its development partners to implement various policies and programmes and to improve the situation of children. Assistance is also critical for quick-impact projects in the Maoist-affected areas to provide basic services to people. A recently published report, which was also presented at the Joint Executive Board meeting of UNICEF and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), showed that our resources and the present level of external assistance will be far from sufficient to meet the Millennium Development Goals.

In conclusion, as parents and elders it is our obligation to provide children with the basic necessities of life and with the opportunity for quality education, health services and a loving and caring environment. We must not allow the momentum generated by the various conferences on those topics to falter.

Mrs. Ahmed (Sudan)

It is clear that the rights of the child have been at centre stage since the holding of the World Summit for Children in 1990. Those rights are now a priority of Governments, civil society organizations, scientists and researchers who seek to foster the capabilities of children and meet their basic needs within a family providing safety, well-being, education, morals and ethics for a better future. Interest in the agenda for children has increased since the adoption and implementation of the Plan of Action entitled "A world fit for children", which will contribute to the well-being of children and to strengthening their rights.

International cooperation has a very important role to play in that regard, especially in connection with providing support to developing countries as part of the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and as a practical and positive approach aimed at overcoming obstacles and meeting agreed international financial commitments. There is, therefore, a need to enhance the implementation of the Plan of Action and to reinvigorate political will at the national and international levels.

If the present international situation continues, we shall see a widening of the gap between the rich and the poor in every country. Poor countries will therefore not be able to benefit from the positive aspects of globalization, which will then lead to further marginalization of developing countries, and in particular the least developed countries. At the same time that those countries are experiencing the effects of malnutrition, malaria and HIV/AIDS -- especially the ones located in Africa -- they must also contend with the burden imposed by foreign debts and the servicing of those debts.

My delegation made a statement to the Third Committee concerning the national efforts Sudan is making with regard to protecting the rights of children and promoting their well-being. In this connection, we would like to express our gratitude to the Secretary-General for his report (A/58/333) on the follow-up to the outcome of the special session on children. We wish to underscore the contents of that report pertaining to the follow-up to major international conferences and other important summits that provided a comprehensive plan of action for development, whose primary objective is the elimination of poverty.

The report of the Secretary-General also referred to cooperation between the African Union, the Economic Commission for Africa and UNICEF in drafting a comprehensive report on the situation of children in Africa. My delegation believes that that report should serve to raise awareness of the situation of children in Africa, given that they represent the most affected and vulnerable segment of the population by virtue of their exposure to such endemic diseases as malaria and HIV/AIDS and the fact that their mortality rate is extremely high owing to malnutrition and armed conflict. My delegation therefore believes that all factors affecting the lives, rights and prosperity of African children must be taken into account in the preparation of the report.

The report of the Secretary-General also addressed the issue of follow-up by some regional organizations. A comprehensive resolution in line with the outcome document of the General Assembly's special session on children and entitled "An Arab world fit for children" was adopted at the Arab Summit held in March 2002. The May 2002 meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) also adopted a resolution on child care and protection in the Islamic world. That resolution refers to the Plan of Action as a reference for action by OIC members.

My delegation would like for the Secretary-General's future reports on follow-up to include a comprehensive analytical review of the implementation of the Plan of Action at the national, regional and international levels by focusing on the four primary goals with a view to defining problems and challenges and making practical recommendations. My delegation attaches special importance to the study being prepared by the Secretary-General on violence against children, in keeping with the relevant resolution of the General Assembly. My delegation hopes that it will be inclusive of all the fundamental causes that lead to violence against children, and in particular of the spread of poverty and disease. The report should also deal with the commercial and sexual exploitation of children through prostitution and their suffering under armed conflicts, abuse, killing and displacement, to which they are subject as a result of foreign occupation.

Finally, my delegation wishes to express its appreciation for the efforts of the Secretary-General and the United Nations specialized agencies, particularly the United Nations Children's Fund, aimed at achieving the well-being of children and enhancing their rights, while, at the same time, implementing the recommendations of the report, "A world fit for children", and supporting national efforts to follow up implementation of the plan of action of that document. We also appreciate all the relevant initiatives of non-governmental organizations and civil society organizations.

Mr. Kovind (India)

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