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SUMMARY
(written by young people )
1990 World Summit for Children
WORLD DECLARATION
ON THE SURVIVAL, PROTECTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN
1. The purpose of the Summit is to brighten the future of every child.
2. “The children of the world are innocent, vulnerable and dependent. They are also curious, active and full of hope. Their future should be one of joy and peace, of playing, learning and growing. Their future should be shaped in harmony and cooperation. Their lives should mature as they broaden their perspectives and gain new experiences.”
3. “But for many children, the reality of childhood is altogether different.”
THE CHALLENGE
4. Each day children must endure countless forms of abuse such as racial discrimination, hunger, illiteracy, war, neglect, cruelty and exploitation.
5. Millions of these children are those of undeveloped countries which suffer from poverty.
6. Each day 40,000 children die from malnutrition, disease, AIDS, drugs and lack of clean water and sanitation.
7. “These are the challenges that we, as political leaders, must meet.”
THE OPPORTUNITY
8. Together, our nations can greatly diminish the suffering of children worldwide. “The Convention on the Rights of the Child provides a new opportunity to make respect for children’s rights and welfare truly universal.
9. With improvements in the international political climate, solid results can now be achieved in the prevention of fatal and crippling diseases and in the areas of social and economic justice. The well-being of children must be a very high priority as nations begin to “spend” resources freed up by disarmament.
THE TASK
10. The deaths of tens of thousands of children every day are caused by easily preventable diseases. The means to stop these diseases are well-known and easily accessible.
11. Care and support should be given to disabled children and others in difficult situations.
12. Strengthening the role and rights of women- from girlhood on- will directly and indirectly benefit children.
13. With over 100 million children lacking even basic schooling, literacy for these children is a most important contribution to their development.
14-15. A responsibly planned, safe and supportive family provides an optimum environment for children to realize who they are and the part they will play as productive participants in the cultural life of their societies.
16. Economic conditions profoundly influence the fate of children. Therefore, economic growth is vitally important in developing countries as well as solutions to the special problems for debtor countries.
17. International cooperation is crucial in carrying out these tasks.
THE COMMITMENT
18. The world leaders are determined to act for the well-being of children.
19. The political leaders are committed to this cause, which will in turn, improve all of society.
20. The following is a 10-point program designed to improve the life of a child:
(1) The Convention on the Rights of the Child and other information about children’s rights will be distributed worldwide;
(2) The health of a child will be ensured in early childhood and there will be access to clean water and sanitation. This will result in the reduction on infant mortality;
(3) “We will strive for optimal growth and development in childhood.” Hunger will be addressed to relieve the suffering of malnutrition and famine;
(4) The status of women will be strengthened. Women will be educated about family planning and the requirements of healthy child development;
(5) Support and respect will be given to those who have the responsibility of caring for children. The needs of children separated from their families will be recognized;
(6) Illiteracy will be reduced and all children will be provided with education which will prepare them for productive lives and enable them to grow within a “nurturing cultural and social content;”
(7) An effort will be made to improve the life of children living under especially difficult conditions such as refugee children, orphan and street children, migrants, displaced children and victims of disasters. Illegal child labor will be abolished. Children will be protected from drugs;
(8) Protection will be given to children caught in places of war and violence. The values of peace, understanding and dialogue will be included in education. Special corridors for supplies will be requested during war;
(9) The environment will receive protection to allow children to grow up in a healthy world; and
(10) Priority will be given to children in developing countries. Also, more resources will be provided in all countries to ensure the protection of children.
THE NEXT STEPS
21. World leaders agree to accept the challenge of the World Summit for Children.
22. “Among the partnerships we seek, we turn especially to children themselves. We appeal to them to participate in this effort.”
23. The United Nations, other international or regional agencies and non-governmental organizations are asked to help world leaders seek support and joint action to promote the well-being of children.
24. A Plan of Action, as a basis for national and international undertakings, has been adopted. “We (signers) are prepared to make available the resources to meet these commitments, as part of the priorities of our national plans.”
25. Every child has a right to a better future. This action is taken for all generations. “There can be no task nobler than giving every child a better future.”
SUMMARY
(written by young people)
1990 World Summit for Children
PLAN OF ACTION
FOR IMPLEMENTING THE WORLD DECLARATION ON THE SURVIVAL, PROTECTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN IN THE 1990s
I. INTRODUCTION
1. The Plan of Action is a guide for all organizations and governments to use in implementing the Declaration of the World Summit for Children
2. The needs of every country may vary, but the Plan can be adapted to fulfill these needs. The Plan suggests goals, targets and strategies to be used in the 1990s to fulfill common aspirations for the well-being of children worldwide.
- National development is based upon a country’s investment in its children’s health, nutrition and education.
Empowerment of the younger generation...to grow to their full potential should be a primary goal of
national development.”
4. The Convention on the Rights of the Child sets “universal legal standards” for the protection of children against neglect, abuse and exploitation as well as provides for a guarantee of basic human rights (i.e.
survival, protection, development and participation). “The Declaration of the 1990 World Summit calls on governments to promote the earliest possible ratification and implementation of the Convention.”
5. Major goals for the survival, protection and development of children by the year 2000:
(a) One third reduction of 1990 mortality rates for children under five years of age or a level of 70 per 1,000 live births (whichever figure is the larger reduction);
(b) Reduction of deaths of mothers by half the 1990 levels;
(c) Reduction of half the deaths due to malnutrition of children under five;
(d) Availability of safe drinking water and safe human waste disposal;
(e) Access to basic education with completion of primary education by at least 80% of primary age children;
(f) Reduction of adult illiteracy rate to 50% of the 1990 levels stressing female literacy; and
(g) Protection of children under difficult circumstances, especially during armed conflicts.
6. Major goals are found in the Appendix to this Plan, but these will need to be adapted to the realities of each country’s situation.
II. SPECIFIC ACTIONS FOR CHILD SURVIVAL, PROTECTION AND DEVELOPMENT
7. These goals bring opportunities to prevent and even eliminate age-old children’s diseases and to improve the quality of their lives for generations to come. Achieving these goals will help to control population growth because as parents come to expect their children to survive, they will have fewer children. To seize these opportunities the Declaration of the World Summit for Children calls for specific actions in the following areas listed below.
THE CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
8. The Convention contains legal norms for the protection and well-being of children which need urgently to be approved in every country, implemented and monitored.
CHILD HEALTH
9. Most of the 14 million children who die before their fifth birthday are killed by easily preventable diseases which cost little to treat. These unnecessary deaths can be stopped with the improvement of health care services.
10. Children have also been greatly affected by the recent spread of AIDS. Many children suffer and die from this disease while numerous others are indirectly affected. These children can benefit from international research on AIDS.
11. Clean water and safe sanitation are other areas that must be improved because of the tremendous impact their ill effects have on children.
12. Due to new technology and low-cost techniques, improving sanitation and the availability of clean water is now feasible, but it requires national effort and international support for the cause.
FOOD AND NUTRITION
13. Hunger and malnutrition ravage women and children across the globe. Over 520 million females are severely malnourished, underweight or anemic because of unsafe food and lack of proper homes or medical care. The world with all of its bountiful resources is more than capable of stopping malnutrition. Governments around the world should recognize this problem and take steps to solve it.
14. While a mother is pregnant with a child, proper food and care are essential if the baby is to be born healthy. As the child becomes an adult, a healthy diet is an obvious priority. For this to happen, jobs need to be created and people need to be taught how to increase the amount of food production and distribution. With these ideas we can effectively combat child hunger and malnutrition.
ROLE OF WOMEN, MATERNAL HEALTH AND FAMILY PLANNING
15. Women play an important role in children’s health. Giving them equal opportunity allows them to make valuable contributions to national development. Equality for all women begins with giving equal opportunities to young girls during their childhood.
16. Giving special attention to women’s health, nutrition and education is also essential in saving the lives of many women and children whose deaths are related to poor maternal health.
17. There is a need to provide couples with information on family planning, pre-natal care and all other aspects of the mother’s health as well as the child’s. This will help reduce the number of deaths and pregnancies and lower population growth rates.
THE ROLE OF THE FAMILY
18. The family is a child’s introduction to society. In order to develop a child’s full potential, he or she must be raised by a family with love and understanding. Therefore, society as a whole should respect and support the efforts of parents.
19. If children must be separated from their families, they should be provided with an alternate home where they will be cared for and loved, preferably in their own culture. No child should be treated as an outcast from society.
BASIC EDUCATION AND LITERACY
20-21. People from all over the world met at the World Conference on Education for All in Thailand to increase educational opportunity for over 100 million children (especially girls) around the world. They proposed the expansion of early childhood activities, completion of primary education for both boys and girls, reduction of adult illiteracy by 50%, increased vocational training and more education in the knowledge of skills and values through traditional and modern communications media. The positive attributes of improvement of the environment, health and economic development are only a few results produced when we invest in education.
22. Orphans, street children, refugees, war victims, man-made disaster survivors (due to exposure to radiation, chemicals, etc.), migrant workers, child workers, disabled children, juvenile delinquents as well as victims of apartheid and foreign occupation deserve special attention from their families and all authorities.
23. All countries should end all child labor practices that harm children’s health and interfere with their education.
24. Governments must combat illicit production, supply, demand, trafficking and the distribution of narcotic drugs, tobacco, alcohol and psychotropic substances to young people. Community action and education should be initiated.
PROTECTION OF CHILDREN DURING ARMED CONFLICTS
25. “children need special protection in situations of armed conflict.” Relief supplies and health services must be allowed to women and children. Peace cannot be a precondition for helping children. Children’s education should stress “the values of peace, tolerance, understanding and dialogue.”
CHILDREN AND THE ENVIRONMENT
26. The environment will improve with the reduction of disease and malnutrition and by promoting education.
27. When the goals of the Plan of Action are implemented, environmental problems will be lessened by “programs for children that not only help to meet their basic needs,” but create an appreciation for nature and a deep desire to nurture it.
ALLEVIATION OF POVERTY AND REVITALIZATION OF ECONOMIC GROWTH
28. When children are healthy, well-fed and educated, many of the worst effects of poverty will be relieved. Yet more must be done to ensure future children’s survival, protection and development.
29. It is necessary for all countries to address problems of poverty together. Because they are so vulnerable, children have a special stake in social and economic development.
30. In order to increase economic growth in the developing nations, developed countries should provide resources for them so that more resources go in that go out. They should also try to make the economies of developing countries more diversified.
31. Governments should invest in programs that help children and women whenever possible. Reallocation of military expenditure and help from private businesses could fund debt-relief schemes, basic education, low- cost water and sanitation as well as health care.
32. The developed countries of the world need to work together to aid the underdeveloped countries in diminishing their poverty.
III. FOLLOW-UP ACTIONS AND MONITORING
33. To implement this Declaration for children we must cooperate on all levels to give each family the resources to help their children. Our actions “must be guided by [the] ‘first call for children’...”This is a priority which allows children’s needs to be addressed under all conditions.
34. Child development must be a part of programs for national development. These programs should strengthen the community. This progress should be accomplished “without the alienation of the younger generation.” “we (the signers) commit ourselves and our Governments to the following actions:”
ACTION AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL
(i) By 1991, all governments should prepare a plan of action for their country.
(ii-iii) Each country should examine their programs, policies, plans and budgets to assist the execution of this Declaration. Programs that aid children should be protected under all conditions.
(iv) All institutions are urged to aid this effort by conveying, “to all families the knowledge and skills required for dramatically improving the situation of children.”
(v) To measure the success of this Plan, each country should monitor its progress.
(vi) Every country is asked to reduce the impact of emergencies on children and women.
(vii) This Plan could be aided by technological breakthroughs.
ACTION AT THE INTERNATIONAL LEVEL
35. This Plan for Action requires world-wide collaboration. “many developing countries...will need substantial international cooperation” to participate in this effort.
(i) International and regional agencies are requested to report their plans to governments before the end of 1991.
(ii) All regional institutions are requested to discuss how they can assist the Plan.
(iii) Full collaboration of all relevant UN agencies is requested.
(iv) The UN is requested to assist in the implementation of this Declaration. We ask that the UN Secretary General arrange a “mid-decade review” covering the progress towards implementing the Declaration and inform the UN General Assembly through the Economic and Social Council.
(v) UNICEF is requested to prepare a worldwide analysis of the plans and actions taken by countries. UN agencies are requested to periodically review the implementation progress of the Declaration and inform the UN General Assembly through the Economic and Social Council.
36. Most of the goals stated in the Declaration can be achieved with current technology. Information is within reach of everyone to act upon. There is no reason to abandon children in the future. This Plan of Action must be given “a high priority for national action and international cooperation.”
APPENDIX
GOALS FOR CHILDREN AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE 1990s
These goals were developed through extensive international consultative meetings involving “virtually all governments” and the UN agencies of the World Health Organization (WHO), UN International Children’s Fund (UNICEF), UN Population Fund (UNFA), UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).
I. MAJOR GOALS FOR CHILD SURVIVAL, DEVELOPMENT AND PROTECTION
To be achieved between 1990 and 2000:
(a) Reduce infant and under-5 child mortality by one third;
(b) Reduce the rate of maternal mortality by 50%;
(c) Fifty percent reduction of malnutrition in under-5 children;
(d) Everyone should have access to safe drinking water and sanitation;
(e) Everyone must have access to basic education and 80% of young children should complete primary school;
(f) Increase adult literacy 50% with special emphasis on female literacy; and
(g) Improve protection for children in difficult situations.
II. SUPPORTING SECTORAL GOALS
Women’s Health and Education
(i.) Emphasize the health and nutrition of female children, pregnant and nursing mothers.
(ii.) Couples should be educated to “prevent pregnancies that are too early, too closely spaced, too late or too many.”
(In 1995 there was a Mid-Decade Review of the 1990 Summit goals during which it was found that most nations had improved the health of their children. The UNICEF Annual Report describes these gains in detail. The General Assembly has called for a Special Session in 2000 to review the achievements fostered by the above document and assess what still needs to be done. )
In 1992 at the PEACEWAYS Australian national conference, Partnership for the Future, children under 18 from all over Australia wrote their plan to implement the 1990 World Summit for Children goals in Australia. They presented their "Target for Tomorrow" to the Minister in charge of Australia's 1990 World Summit Plan of Action, Peter Staples, with the request that it be included unedited as an addendum to the official Australian Plan of Action sent to the United Nations Secretary General. Their request was granted. It is believed that Australia may have the only Plan of Action that included a document written by children.
1990 World Summit for Children
MID-DECADE GOALS
The 1990 World Summit for Children Declaration promised the world’s children that 27 goals will be fulfilled by the year 2000. These goals require a lot of resources to achieve. To make the work needed more efiicient, ten intermediate goals were set to be achieved by 1995. These “Mid-Decade Goals” were formulated through extensive consultation in a series of regional meetings attended by political leaders of countries endorsing World Summit goals:
1990 South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation Summit met in Male, the Maldives;
1991 the same group met in Colombo, Sri Lanka;
1991 Ibero-American Summit met in Guadalejara, Mexico;
1992 a conference of representatives from 19 Latin-American countries met in Mexico City;
1992 the League of Arab States High-level Meeting on Child Welfare, Protection and Development met in Tunis, Tunisia; and
1992 International Conference on Assistance to African Children (sponsored by the Organization of African Unity) met in Dakar, Senegal.
Also participating at these meetings were representatives from the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Population Fund, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the United Nations Development Program and a large number of non-governmental organizations.
Dr. Nyi Nyi, Special Assistant to the Executive Director of UNICEF, has been designated as Coordinator in charge of UNICEF efforts to support achievement of the Mid-Decade Goals. In the 1993, no. 2 edition of First Call for Children, Dr. Nyi Nyi explained that setting up 1995 Mid-Decade Goals helps to “break the goals up into smaller chunks and gives governments a chance to develop the systems needed.” He also pointed out that these systems need to be efficient, well organized and cost effective.
The Mid-Decade Goals are recommended for implementation in all countries where they are applicable, with appropriate adaptation to the specific situation of each country in terms of phrasing, standards, priorities, availability of resources and respect for cultural, religious and social traditions. These goals will naturally vary between countries, some setting higher targets as they have already achieved the Mid-Decade Goals. Incorporating these Mid-Decade Goals in the various National Plans of Action will strengthen efforts to reach the broader goals set for 2000.
The 1995 Mid-Decade Goals
1. Elimination of neonatal tetanus
2. Reduction of measles deaths by 95% and of measles cases by 90%
3. Raising Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) coverage to 80% or more in all countries
4. Elimination of polio in selected countries
5. Achievement of 80% usuage of Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT) as part
of the control of diarrheal disease (CDD)
6. Achievement of Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) in all countries
7. Universal iodization of salt
8. Elimination of vitamin A deficiency
9. Eradication of dracunculiasis (from bad water, affects joints and prevents walking)
10. Universal ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
Three added partial goals:
Reduce malnutrition;
promote gender education; and
improve 1990 levels of water and sanitation facilities.
The United Nations Secretary General and the Director of UNICEF both stated that the main reason the Summit’s goals were not met was because of lack of political will. It is extremely important that children get involved in learning about United Nations documents that will better their lives, that they get the word out to others and make it known to their governments that they want to help them keep their promises. Child Participation is the missing element that society needs to achieve its goals. When Child Participation becomes the normal way of life, then everyone will benefit.
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