US Opposition Strikes Key Language from UN Declaration on Children

 
More than 10 million children die each year from easily preventable causes. An additional 150 million suffer from malnutrition, more than 120 million are not in school, tens of millions are forced to work under exploitative conditions, and countless more are caught up in armed conflicts and other forms of violence.

These figures are just some of the statistics collected by UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund. On May 8-10, it hosted a special UN session on children attended by representatives of 180 countries, including 250 child emissaries. The meeting had two main goals: a review of the progress made for children in the decade since the 1990 World Summit for Children, and a renewed commitment to specific actions in the coming decade.

The participants signed a final declaration, "A World Fit for Children." According to Carol Bellamy, executive director of UNICEF, the text centers around four primary areas: health promotion; access to and fulfillment of a quality education; protection from abuse, violence and exploitation; and combating HIV/AIDS.

Bellamy cited several main accomplishments of the special session. First, a new alliance, funded by a $50 million donation from Bill and Melinda Gates, will offer improved nutrition to children by fortifying basic foods in developing countries. Second, individual acts showed a firm political commitment to help children, such as the solemn promise of Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo to reduce military spending to allow more funding for basic childhood services. (Toledo promised to devote 20% of the military budget to special programs for young people. He added that his own good fortune in gaining access to education had persuaded him of the need to commit himself "intensely and systematically" to children and adolescents who are victims of poverty and social exclusion.) Third, Bellamy declared the success of the global Say Yes for Children campaign, which has collected the signatures of more than 95 million people around the world committed to respect the rights of children.

Despite these accomplishments, however, some organizations were disappointed with the final declaration, characterizing it as weak. A contributing factor was the failure of the United States to ratify the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child. US objections have centered around concerns that the convention could undermine the rights of families. "Unfortunately, the US finds itself in a position opposed to other countries," Juan Fermín, a Spanish UNICEF official, told the BBC.

Indeed, 191 counties have ratified the convention, leaving only the US and Somalia. The Clinton administration added its signature to the convention but did not present it to the Senate for ratification in the face of protests from some groups that it violated the rights of parents and went against state and municipal laws. So far, the Bush administration shows no sign of pushing for ratification, either.

At the special UN session, the US joined the Vatican and Islamic countries in maintaining a conservative position favoring abstinence as the main focus of sex education and opposing any consideration of abortion in cases of teenage pregnancy. The final declaration omitted any reference to "reproductive health services," which the Bush administration views as a veiled reference to abortion. It also phrased its language on the death penalty in such a way that the US would not have to commit itself to abolishing capital punishment for teenagers, which some US states permit.

Less controversial was UNICEF's recommendation for the most important measures to help the world's children: immunization, nutrition, sanitation and education. Bellamy emphasized a 1998 study by the Rand Corporation that found that every dollar invested in the physical and mental development of newborns and young children saves seven dollars in future health problems, unemployment and crime.

Bellamy was quick to point out that the final declaration produced at the May meeting did not mean that her organization's work was done. "It will take committed and bold leadership over the next few years if we are to meet the standards we have set for ourselves," she noted. "In the 1990s we learned that making promises is not enough-you have to act on them." It is now up to the world's societies to pay their debt to their youngest members and take concrete steps to improve the lives of children.

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