Children and Young People at the New York launch of the UN Study on Violence against Children

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[NEW YORK, 10th October 2006] – The UN Study on Violence against Children (UNVAC) will be officially launched tomorrow afternoon, at the UN General Assembly in New York. Over 20 child representatives are currently attending a preparatory meeting, organised by the UN Study Secretariat, Save the Children and UNICEF, to prepare their contribution to the official launch and their participation to side activities surrounding the launch.

The five-day preparatory meeting, which started last Sunday at UNICEF headquarters in New York, gathers 21 children and young people from the following countries: Nicaragua, Venezuela, Canada, Jamaica, India, Nepal, Maldives, Philippines, China, East Timor, Slovenia, Romania, Yemen, Lesotho, Zambia, Mali, Senegal and Ethiopia. The children and young people were selected among participants to national and regional UNVAC consultations, which took place throughout 2005.

The main purpose of the preparatory meeting is to agree on a set of issues that the children want to raise at the various launch events and to explore the work that participants will be doing after the launch, to ensure that the Study’s recommendations are implemented nationally.

The children and young people split into three separate committees to prepare their work. They have been discussing issues covered by the Study to reach consensus on key messages for their statement to the General Assembly (GA); they have been organising the modalities of their participation to the Launch events; they have had media training to know how to talk to journalists and make the most of their presence at the General Assembly. Preparations are continuing this afternoon and the children are assigning roles and responsibilities for each event to which they will participate:

  • One child representative will be designated to deliver a key seven-minute statement to the UNGA 3rd Committee tomorrow, during the official Study launch, and alongside Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the Independent Expert in charge of the Study, and representatives from each of the supporting UN agencies (UNICEF, OHCHR, WHO). The children and young people are currently finalising their statement.
  • A reception for the UNVAC book launch has been organised by UNICEF and the missions from Norway and Egypt . All children will be attending to do some advocacy.
  • Children will be organising a roundtable discussion on Thursday, in which they will be able to ask questions to high-level participants, including the Crown Prince of Norway. A delegation of children will have the opportunity to meet with the Prince and welcome him in private prior to the roundtable. The children and young people are currently deciding on the content of the roundtable discussion.
  • The launch of child-friendly materials of the Study, Our Right to Be Protected from Violence, will take place on Thursday 12th at UNICEF house, and children will have a 30 minute slot to take the floor during the event.
  • A reception hosted by Save the Children, and the missions from Germany, Finland and Sweden will take place on Thursday evening. All the children and young people are invited and 3-4 representatives will be given the opportunity to give a brief speech at the beginning.

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