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September 12 2001

From 19-21 September 2001, the United Nations Special Session on Children will be held at the United Nations headquarters in New York. A Special Session is a formal meeting of delegates from every United Nations member state, dedicated to a specific topic of such importance that it requires concerted international attention and action. So far, 75 heads of State or Government have confirmed their participation in the Special Session – the highest number to attend a conference on children, and one of the largest gatherings of world leaders ever. NGOs, children’s advocates and young people themselves will also be attending. This meeting has the potential to make a real difference to the lives of children across the globe. It is hoped, therefore, that it will not simply be used as a forum for the making of empty promises.

World Summit

The Special Session is a follow up to the 1990 World Summit for children, at which 71 heads of State and Government, and other leaders signed the World Declaration on Survival, Protection and Development of Children, and set out a series of goals to be achieved according to precise timescales. These goals included:

• improving living conditions for children and their chances of survival by increasing access to health services for women and children;

• reducing the spread of preventable diseases;

• creating more opportunities for education;

• providing better sanitation and greater food supply; and

• protecting children in danger.

Progress report

In June this year, the UN Secretary–General, Kofi Annan, issued a report, We the Children, detailing the progress made towards achieving the goals established at the World Summit, and highlighting the areas which needed more work. The report contained information from 135 national level reviews, which collectively produced the most comprehensive picture ever assembled of the global child, and concluded that the world has fallen short of achieving most of the goals of the World Summit, largely because of insufficient investment.

Positive results for children included the fact that this year three million fewer children will die than a decade ago; polio has been brought to the brink of eradication; and, through salt iodization, 90 million newborns are protected each year from a significant loss of learning ability.

Furthermore:

• 63 countries achieved the Summit goal of a one-third reduction in mortality among children under five, and over 100 countries reduced under-five mortality by one fifth;

• deaths of young children from diarrhoeal diseases were reduced by half over the decade, from 3 million to 1.5 million, achieving a key Summit goal;

• routine child immunisation coverage has remained fairly high in all regions except one; and

• net school enrolment has increased, outpacing population growth, so that a higher proportion of children are in school now than ever before.

However, despite this progress:

• more than 10 million children still die each year from preventable causes;

• over 150 million still suffer from malnutrition;

• some 100 million children are still not in school - the majority of them girls;

• the resources that were promised at the Summit have yet to materialise, and there has been inadequate investment in social services; and

• the lives of millions continue to be devastated by hazardous labour, by the sale and trafficking of women and children, the militarisation of children and by general abuse, exploitation and violence.

Purpose of the Special Session

The Special Session will seek to review and evaluate the progress made towards achieving the goals set out at the 1990 World Summit. In addition, a renewed commitment will be made to specific actions for improving the lives of the world’s children over the next decade.

World leaders will be asked to identify solutions to the problems children are faced with, and to commit the necessary human and economic resources for making these solutions a reality. The Special Session will focus on achieving three fundamental goals:

• ensuring the best possible start in life for all children;

• ensuring a good quality basic education for all children; and

• creating opportunities for all children, particularly adolescents, for meaningful participation in their communities.

Children's forum

As a side event to the Special Session, a Children's Forum will take place from 16-18 September for members of Government and accredited NGO delegations under the age of 18 who will be attending the Special Session. The intended purpose of the forum is to enable these young people to identify ways in which they can influence their Governments, UN agencies, NGOs and other decision-makers in relation to programmes designed to benefit children, and how they can be actively involved in the implementation and monitoring of goals for improvement. The outcome of the Children's Forum will be presented to the plenary of the Special Session.

For more information on the UN Special Session, see:

www.crin.org.uk

www.unicef.org

(c) 1999- The Children and Armed Conflict Unit