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Statement by Jo Becker, Human Rights Watch
on behalf of the Child Rights Caucus
for the 2001 General Assembly Special Session
for Follow-up to the World Summit for Children
To the First Substantive Session of the Preparatory Committee for
the Special Session of the General Assembly for Follow-up to the
World Summit for Children
May 31, 2000
Mr. Chairman, distinguished delegates,
I am speaking on behalf of the Child Rights Caucus for the 2001
General Assembly Special Session for Follow-up to the World
Summit for Children. The Caucus includes more than 35
international and national organizations and coalitions from
around the world that are committed to promoting and protecting
the human rights of children.
Since the 1990 World Summit for Children, the rights of children
have been recognized as never before. Nearly every country has
ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, promising to
uphold its protections for children. Unfortunately, failure to
adequately implement the Convention allows millions of children
to suffer unconscionable exploitation and abuse on a daily basis.
One of the greatest challenges for the 2001 Special Session and
the coming decade is for governments to take stronger action to
protect the fundamental rights of children, and to muster the
political will to fully implement the Convention on the Rights of the
Child.
The Child Rights Caucus believes that the upcoming Special
Session must address four main areas for children: first, civil
rights, participation and fundamental freedoms; second, the right
to survival and development; third, the right to protection from
exploitation and violence; and finally, accountability for the
implementation of these rights.
The Caucus has also identified ten key issues that must receive
priority attention in any future plan of action for children. We are
pleased that some of these have been mentioned quite
frequently over the last two days. Others, however, have
received much less attention.
1) Birth registration: 40 millions births every year go
unregistered, denying children legal status, access to services,
and leaving them vulnerable to exploitation.
2) Armed conflict: Millions of children have been forced to
flee their homes and 300,000 have been drawn into service as
soldiers. Hundreds of thousands more are injured, disabled or die
in armed conflicts every year..
3) Juvenile Justice: Children are frequently brought to trial
and sentenced in ways that violate their rights, and are detained
under conditions that deny them access to education, health,
safety and dignity.
4) Education: 130 million children—the majority girls—have
no access to education, while many others receive substandard
educations, sometimes in abusive environments.
5) Health: Despite substantial gains in health and
immunization rates, each day over 30,000 children die from
preventable causes, while the HIV/AIDS epidemic has affected
and orphaned millions of children.
6) Violence against Children: Physical abuse is
perpetrated—often with impunity—against street children by
police, against children in correctional or other institutions by
guards or employees, against child workers by employers, and
against students by teachers.
7) Child Labor: 250 million children work, nearly half full-
time, and nearly a quarter in hazardous circumstances.
8) Sexual Exploitation: Countless children are sexually
exploited for commercial purposes through prostitution, trafficking
or pornography. Others are sexually abused by caregivers,
employers, police or national security forces
9) Participation: Although the Convention guarantees
children the right to be heard and to exercise freedom of
expression, children are frequently denied the opportunity to
participate in debates and activities that affect their lives and
futures.
10) Discrimination: Discrimination on the basis of sex,
sexual orientation, race, religion, ethnicity, political or other
opinion, national, ethnic or social origin or disability threatens all
of the rights of children.
Individual member organizations of the Caucus do not necessarily
endorse each of these ten items. However, we believe that all
must be addressed if governments are to fulfill the commitments
they have made through the Convention on the Rights of the
Child.
The Caucus has identified specific recommendations for each of
these points. We urge governments to consider these and to
devise additional concrete goals to address these issues. Most of
all, we urge governments to ensure that the rights of children are
at the center of the 2001 Special Session and any new action
plan for children.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
pdf: www.crin.org/docs/resources/publications/caucus_state.pdf