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Summary: 16 May 2001: UNICEF released initial results of the Young Voices poll, the largest and most ambitious survey ever taken among children in Europe and Central Asia. The results reflect the voices of over 93 million children from 35 countries in the region on issues related to their rights. This extensive survey provides a fascinating portrait of the views, concerns, hopes and dreams of children and adolescents from 26 States in transition in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Baltic States and nine countries in Western Europe. It also provides some disturbing insights into a world children and young people see as marked by violence, injustice and discrimination. "Children are not only our future, they are our present and we need to start taking their voices very seriously," said Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of UNICEF. "We must listen carefully to what young people have to say and give them every opportunity to speak. We must reach out to them and encourage them to participate in the decision-making processes that affect their lives." The poll is based on face to face interviews with 15,200 children, between the ages of 9 and 17, conducted between December 2000 and February 2001, by one of the largest polling companies in the world, GfK Group. For the findings, click here For a summary of the UK findings, see www.unicef.org.uk/news/presscentre/uksummary.ppt For further information, see www.unicef.org.uk/index_s.asp?sct=news&filen=../news/presscen tre/opinion16may.htm