IWTC WOMEN'S GLOBALNET #195
Initiatives and Activities of Women Worldwide
By Anne S. Walker

May 10, 2002

KIDS DEMAND ACTION FROM WORLD LEADERS AT UN SPECIAL SESSION ON CHILDREN

(The following has been excerpted from articles in the New York Times)

They heard plenty of promises from world leaders who vowed to improve
their health, education and rights -- or simply provide them with food.
But children attending the UN Special Session on Children demanded one
thing: action.

As the three-day meeting comes to an end, children from around the world
are speaking out about AIDS and other diseases, the 120 million children
who don't go to school, and governments that fail to respect children's
rights.

"Most leaders just pay lip service to children,'' Bernice Akuamoah, a
15-year-old from Ghana, said during a rare dialogue between African
leaders and African children. "They come and they say all these nice
things and we expect them to happen, but that's a whole other matter.''

Meanwhile, delegates from more than 180 countries were meeting behind
closed doors, wrestling with a final summit document that is to set out
new priorities and goals in efforts to improve the lot of children
worldwide over the next 15 years.

The most serious divisions were over an effort to include a reference to
the plight of Palestinian children and over language on family planning,
children's rights, and "reproductive health" that some conservatives
interpret as advocating abortion. Negotiators met into the early hours
on Friday, trying to wrap up the summit's final document.

A US official said all the delegates have agreed privately that "health
services" does not mean abortion, but the United States wants this
specified in a footnote to the document. Diplomats said there was
near-deadlock on the issue amid strong resistance to the US demand.

During the negotiations over wording, American officials have pressed
for specificity Ñ demanding, for instance, that the term "reproductive
health services" be annotated to exclude abortion. In this they are
joined by the Vatican, as well as several Islamic nations, from Iran to
Pakistan. On the opposing side are delegates representing the European
Union, as well as countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia.

In the General Assembly, leaders of both the industrialized and
developing world were urged to spend more money on children and less on
weapons. "When there is a war against any nation, the state finds the
money. This is a war for our children. We want the money and we are
going to get it for them," said Najma Heptullah, deputy head of India's
upper house of parliament.

Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo pledged to spend less on defense and
more on children. "My government has reduced the military expenditures
and will use that money to bolster social spending, particularly in the
defense and education of children," he told the General Assembly.

Norway's Minister for International Development Hilde Johnsson said
there was reason to be optimistic. "The tide is there. The countries
that are not increasing aid feel a bit awkward and feel they should
deliver more," she said. "That is very good pressure that has been
built."

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