General Assembly GA/SHC/4010
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'Too Many Children Are Being Left Behind' Simply Because They Are Bo... http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2011/gashc4010.doc.htm 12 October 2011 General Assembly GA/SHC/4010 Department of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York Sixty-sixth General Assembly Third Committee 13 th & 14 th Meetings (AM & PM) ‘TOO MANY CHILDREN ARE BEING LEFT BEHIND’ SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY ARE BORN FEMALE, HAVE DISABILITIES, LIVE IN WORLD’S POOREST PLACES, THIRD COMMITTEE TOLD Hears from UN Children’s Fund Head; UN Envoys on Violence against Children, Sale of Children, Children in Armed Conflict; Chair of Child Rights Committee Protection systems and monitoring mechanisms rarely addressed the special challenges facing girls, children with disabilities and the world’s most impoverished young people at great cost not just to them, but to their entire societies, the head of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today. “Too many children are being left behind, deprived of their right to thrive and grow simply because they were born female, or have a disability or live in one of the world’s poorest and most isolated places,” Anthony Lake said, as he launched the Committee’s three-day discussion on the promotion and protection of the rights of children. Most development experts had long believed that it was simply too expensive to focus on those “forgotten children,” but that was no longer true, he said. Advances in vaccines, technologies and micro- nutrients had improved the ability to reach them, and it was not only the right thing, but the smart thing to do because it was more effective — and more cost-effective. He said that, according to a UNICEF study released last year, every additional dollar invested in reaching the most vulnerable children in low-income, high-mortality countries could avert up to 60 per cent more child deaths than the current approach. Investing in the social sector was also vital to the long-term growth and future strength of societies. He further stressed that Governments, international organizations, civil societies and communities must put the hardest to reach children at the centre of national plans, policies and programmes. They should better identify children with disabilities, mapping the areas of greatest need and looking beyond national averages that concealed pockets of deprivation and widening disparities. More investment was also needed in community-based ways to overcome cultural barriers and norms that excluded and even endangered girls. “We must succeed,” he argued. “At stake are the lives and futures of [these] children.” For children with disabilities, he said this meant achieving full ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. For girls, it meant banning the practice of forced marriage and child marriage once and for all. For the most vulnerable, it meant achieving universal ratification of the Optional Protocols on the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Mr. Lake was among several top United Nations Officials who appeared today to testify to the complex obstacles preventing children around the world from fully enjoying their rights, including the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children in Armed Conflict, Radhika Coomaraswamy; the 1 of 21 10/13/2011 10:10 AM 'Too Many Children Are Being Left Behind' Simply Because They Are Bo... http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2011/gashc4010.doc.htm Special Representative on Violence against Children, Marta Santos Pais; the Chair of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, Jean Zermatten; and the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, Najat Maalla M'jid. Highlighting the issue of children and justice in armed conflict or post-conflict situations, Ms. Coomaraswamy said States were increasingly arresting and detaining children associated with armed groups, sometimes keeping them in conditions which did not meet the minimum standards set in various legal instruments, risking ill-treatment and torture. While prosecuting these child detainees for acts committed while associated with an armed group, national courts and military tribunals did not generally apply juvenile standards. “Given the forced nature of their association with armed groups, and considering their age, children should be treated primarily as victims, not as perpetrators,” she said, suggesting that emphasis should be placed on prosecuting adult recruiters and commanders based on the concept of command responsibility. Ms. Santos Pais said the second year of her mandate had been crucial in consolidating support for implementing the recommendations of the United Nations Study on Violence against Children. Underscoring law reform as one critical area of change, she said the number of countries with legislation prohibiting violence against children in all settings had doubled since the United Nations study was finalized. “Despite these encouraging developments, only 5 per cent of the children of the world are protected by legal protections in the law itself,” she acknowledged, adding that while law reform was an indispensable building block of robust national child protection system, it must be approached as an ongoing process. In addition, legislation needed to be comprehensive, wide-ranging, and convey a clear and unequivocal message on the imperative of safeguarding children from violence. Earlier today, delegates from 26 countries also took the floor to continue their debate on the advancement of women. Detailing new laws, as well as revisions to existing legislation, a number of speakers highlighted national efforts to curb sexual harassment, domestic abuse and rape. Noting the systematic use of rape against local populations in the eastern part of her country, the representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo said travelling courts had been used to investigate and prosecute perpetrators of the alleged crimes, resulting in the recent conviction of nine soldiers for crimes against humanity for the mass rape of forty women and girls. Other speakers highlighted Government initiatives to end the practice of female genital mutilation. Among the policies and programmes they outlined were a zero-tolerance plan in Burkina Faso, a policy for “systemic repression” through the establishment of more than 400 anti-female genital mutilation committees throughout Côte d’Ivoire, and a public awareness campaign in Mauritania arguing that the practice was counter to Islam. Also speaking today during that debate were the representative of Nepal, Burkina Faso, Algeria, Bangladesh, Congo, Bahrain, Turkey, Sweden, Myanmar, Niger, Finland, Côte d’Ivoire, Georgia, Maldives, Montenegro, Sri Lanka, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iceland, Viet Nam, Serbia, Timor-Leste, Fiji, Malta, Philippines, Mauritania and Kuwait. The representative of Iraq spoke in exercise of his right of reply. The Third Committee will reconvene at 10 a.m. Thursday, 13 October, to conclude its discussion on women’s advancement and to continue its consideration of the promotion and protection of the rights of children. Background The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) met today to complete its discussion on the advancement of women (for more information, please see Press Release GA/SHC/4008 ) and to begin its discussion on the rights of children. 2 of 21 10/13/2011 10:10 AM 'Too Many Children Are Being Left Behind' Simply Because They Are Bo... http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2011/gashc4010.doc.htm It had before it the report of the committee on the rights of the child (document A/66/41 (Supplemental)), as well as the second annual report of the Special Representative of the Secretary- General on violence against children (document A/66/227 ). The latter is guided by the report of the independent expert for the United Nations study on violence against children (A/61/299) and builds upon the vision and the priority areas identified by the Special Representative in her initial report (A/65/292). The report also complements the annual report of the Special Representative to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/16/54) and reviews key developments and initiatives promoted to advance progress in the follow-up to the study at the global, regional and national levels, institutionalize regional governance structures and strengthen strategic alliances to speed up global progress towards a world free from violence. The report identifies areas to which the Special Representative will devote special attention in the forthcoming period: promoting the universal ratification of the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child; further consolidating regional governance structures on violence against children; continuing the series of expert consultations on violence-related topics; and conducting a global survey to assess progress and inform further action in the area of preventing and responding to violence. Also before the Committee was the note by the Secretary-General transmitting the report of the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (document A/66/228 ). The report describes the activities undertaken by the Special Rapporteur during the period from July 2010 to July 2011. It is intended to be used as a tool for effectively implementing recommendations formulated since the beginning of the Special Rapporteur’s mandate. To that end, the report provides the guiding principles and essential components