UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY 55th SESSION
Special Substantive meeting of the Preparatory Meeting for the Special Session on Follow-Up to the World Summit for Children
Agenda Item 5: Outcomes of the Special Session
Statement by Ms Alisi Malolo,
Chargé d'Affaires a.i. of the Kingdom of Tonga,
on behalf of the Pacific Island Forum Group of Countries
1 February 2001
The members of the Pacific Island Forum Group of countries at the UN welcome this opportunity to provide a perspective from our region, so distant from New York, on the important work of this Prepcom. The Pacific Forum spans a region marked by great diversity, but a common thread among all our cultures is the special place of children and young people in all our societies.
The countries of the Pacific Forum played a role in the elaboration of the World Summit Goals in 1990, and as a region endorsed these and embraced the Convention on the Rights of the Child as the basis for all our work for children locally, regionally and globally. Since the World Summit in 1990 all the countries of the South Pacific have ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, beginning with Vanuatu in 1993.
As States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, we reaffirm our commitment to the Convention and recognise its central place in the work of the Special Session. The Convention also provides that the best interests of the child are a primary consideration, and this principle must be a constant point of reference in our work towards a successful outcome for the Special Session.
We would like to express the appreciation of our governments for the work that the Bureau and UNICEF are doing to prepare for the Special Session, including their work on the provisional draft outcome document that we have before us. We are giving careful consideration to the document and we are confident that it will serve as a good basis for an effective final outcome.
The Special Session needs to renew commitments for accelerating achievement of the remaining goals of the 1990 World Summit. We are also mindful of emerging new challenges to children’s survival, safety and development. New technologies like the Internet offer great potential for positively advancing the cause of children, but at the same time can also be used as a tool for their exploitation. HIV/AIDs, the proliferation of small arms, armed conflict, civil unrest, and even changes in the natural environment like global warming which threaten the very existance of some countries, all impact on children’s enjoyment of their human rights. The outcome of the Special Session needs to focus on practical strategies for addressing these and other emerging challenges, taking into account lessons learned from obstacles faced and progress made since the 1990 Summit.
As the draft document appropriately points out, the world now has the normative framework to meet the most pressing needs of children and to fulfil their rights. Universal adherence to these legal standards should be a goal for the international community, and the Special Session should give impetus to achieving this goal. In addition, further work has been done to elaborate commitments and agendas for action on a range of areas that are very relevant to children, in follow-up to other world conferences.
Therefore our governments see the value of this process as lying in operationalising these normative standards and commitments, and moving firmly into a culture of implementation. The outcomes of this Special Session should also be integrated in the overall framework for action at all levels that has emerged as a result of other global reviews. It is therefore important that the Special Session’s outcomes are action-oriented and forward looking, setting realistic targets and goals. Accordingly there is scope for the provisional draft outcome document to be more tightly focused and more action oriented, particularly in relation to the ‘tasks’ that have been identified.
To be effective, measures to realise the rights of children and meet their needs must take into account the different experiences and circumstances of girls and boys. A gender perspective needs to be fully integrated throughout the work of the Special Session and in the outcome document. Specific actions to address disparities between girls and boys must be identified, particularly in areas of education and protection from exploitation, abuse and violence.
The draft provisional outcome document also recognises the important contribution that children and youth can make to better societies and the importance of their participation in making decisions that affect them. The work of the Special Session needs to be informed by the views of civil society, as well as those of youth and children, and accordingly their participation in the Special Session and its preparatory process is crucial.
Children and youth from our region can bring a unique perspective to this work. The particular geographic and cultural features of our region create both challenges and opportunities in meeting the aspirations and needs of our young people. We welcome the recognition in the draft provisional outcome document of the special needs of small island developing states in this respect.
We look forward to working with all delegations to forge a culture of implementation and move us measurably closer to our shared goal of ‘a world fit for children’.