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Summary: NEW YORK, 10 May 2002 - Declaring
that "we want a world fit for children,
because a world fit for us is fit for
everyone," young people from more
than 100 nations sent a powerful
message to world leaders gathered
at the
United Nations Special Session on
Children this week.
Children Issue Statement To World Leaders at the UN
'We Are Not An Expense, We Are An Investment - We Are Citizens
of This
World'
NEW YORK, 10 May 2002 - Declaring that "we want a world fit
for children, because a world fit for us is fit for everyone,"
young people from more than 100 nations sent a powerful
message to world leaders gathered at the United Nations Special
Session on Children this week.
After three days of discussion and debate that ended Tuesday
evening, nearly 400 young people taking part in the offical
Children's Forum unanimously agreed to a 700-word message to
world leaders.
The statement was delivered at the United Nations General
Assembly on Wednesday morning, in the first hour of the
GA's Special Session on Children. It was the first time children
had ever addressed the UN General Assembly on a substantive
issue. (Read the full statement issued by children at
http://www.unicef.org/specialsession/press/cfmessage.htm)
Two young delegates to the Children's Forum were chosen by
their peers to deliver the statement: Gabriela Azurduy Arrieta, 13,
from Bolivia, and Audrey Cheynut, 17, from Monaco.
UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy was visibly moved by
the work the young delegates put into their statement, and their
resolve and dignity in presenting it to world leaders. "I believe
that for the first time in the history of the United Nations,
children are not just being seen ? they are being heard," Bellamy
said. "The young people have not only been eloquent, they have
taken responsibility and shown incredible commitment. I hope it
serves to inspire the leaders attending this conference."
Some 60 summit-level leaders are in attendance at the Special
Session, part of more than 180 high-level government
delegations. More than 3,000 non-government delegates are
also taking part, all of them concerned about children and nearly
half of them from the developing world, where children face the
greatest challenges to survival, health, education and well-being.
"We are not the sources of problems; we are the resources that
are needed to solve them," the children said in their
statement. "We are not expenses; we are investments. We are
not just young people; we are people and citizens of this world.
You call us the future. But we are also the present."
Government delegations at the Special Session are reviewing
progress made toward global goals for children that were set in
1990. They are also expected to agree to a new set of goals for
the next decade.
* * *
Read the full statement issued by children at:
http://www.unicef.org/specialsession/press/cfmessage.htm
Photos of the children, the celebration are also available.
Please contact [email protected]