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Summary: Two Ethiopian teenagers are set to
make history at a landmark United
Nations session dedicated to children.
Two Ethiopian teenagers are set to make history at a landmark
United Nations session dedicated to children.
Zerihun Mamo and Weinshet Asfaw, who are both 15 and have
never travelled outside Ethiopia before, are to act as special
ambassadors for every child in their country. They will fly to the
UN headquarters in New York in May and urge member states to
help end the suffering of children in their country.
The teenagers will join hundreds of other children from around
the world in attending the first-ever UN Special Session on
Children, specifically aimed at helping young people. It will also
be the first time ever that such a large number of children have
actively participated in debates at a major UN conference.
Zerihun, an orphan, told IRIN: "We will give every child in Ethiopia
a voice. We are hoping that we will be able to solve many of the
problems that children around the world face." He said he
believed the most serious problem facing children in Ethiopia was
HIV/AIDS. "If more children are affected, then it will prevent the
country from developing properly," he noted.
Weinshet, who plans to go to university after completing her
studies at the Bole Secondary School in Addis Ababa, added: “We
are very lucky to be going. The most important thing for us is to
get our message across.”
The Special Session - to be held from 8 to 10 May - will hear how
150 million children across the planet are still malnourished and
100 million do not go to school. At least half a million children
have died of AIDS and two million were killed in conflicts in the
1990s. The startling figures will be spelt out at the UN
conference, which is to be attended by a record number of world
leaders.
The conference will also spell out a Plan of Action to improve the
lives of children over the next 10 years and issue a UN
Declaration.
Henrik Haggstrom, from Save the Children-Sweden, said previous
summits dedicated to children had failed to deliver the goods. But
never before has there been a UN Special Session. “While it’s
taken over five decades to convene a Special Session devoted
entirely to children’s issues, this conference is unique for children,
in that young people from around the world have been invited to
participate in the proceedings,” he said.
Ibrahim Jabr, head of the United Nations Children’s Fund
(UNICEF) in Ethiopia, said the children were now in the driving
seat. “Children will be there,” he said, “not just to listen, but also
to express themselves and chart their own future.”
Zerihun, a keen basketball player who hopes to become a civil
engineer, said he believed education must be the priority of the
Special Session. “Education is the key,” Zerihun, who also wants
to go to university, added.
Tens of thousands of children in Ethiopia were asked, in a joint
venture with UNICEF and Save the Children Alliance, to come up
with a list of priorities for improving their lives. These included
care for street children, fulfilling children's basic needs, ending
harmful traditional practices such as female genital mutilation and
promoting child participation. The children also called for more
care for AIDS-infected children and orphans, and ending the wars
that have blighted the region.