Sommaire: EU Presidency Statement - Rights of the Child (14 October 2005: New York)
EU Presidency Statement on Item 67: The Rights of the Child, by the Permanent Mission of the United Kingdom to the United Nations, on behalf of the European Union, Third Committee, Sixtieth Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, New York
Chairperson,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The Acceding Countries Bulgaria and Romania, the Candidate Countries Turkey and Croatia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, EFTA country Liechtenstein, member of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine and Moldova align themselves with this statement.
Chairperson,
Three years ago we gathered here in New York for the Special Session of the General Assembly on children. With the help of young people from around the world, we agreed a vision of a future where children's voices were heard; where children could learn and develop, free from the threats of poverty and disease; and where they could play, protected from violence, conflict, exploitation and discrimination. At the end of the Special Session we adopted a plan of action to help us achieve this "World
Fit for Children".
The plan of action identified ten key principles and objectives. Progress towards realising them has so far been mixed. One of the objectives was to eradicate child poverty. The Millennium Review summit brought home the unpalatable truth of just how far we still have to go towards this aim if we are to keep our promise of meeting it within a single generation. Indeed, we must redouble our efforts across the board to ensure "A World Fit for Children" will not remain a broken promise.
Underpinning all our efforts in this area, the EU recalls that the Convention on the Rights of the Child must constitute the primary standard in the promotion and protection of the rights of the child and underlines the fundamental importance of universal adherence to, and full implementation of, this instrument. We welcome the work of UNICEF on these issues and call upon it to continue to promote the rights of children in its programmes.
The EU would like to use this statement to highlight two of the key areas identified in "A World Fit for Children" where much remains to be done, namely: children affected by armed conflict, and children affected by HIV and AIDS.
Chairperson,
The European Union remains critically concerned about the situation of children affected by armed conflict, both as combatants and victims. We strongly condemn the recruitment of child soldiers by armed groups, and by governments contrary to international law. Where such recruitment has taken place we call upon governments to demobilise, disarm and re-integrate children into their communities; and we call upon all armed groups whose ranks include under-18s to do likewise. In this regard, the EU
encourages the parties concerned to develop and implement the action plans called for in Security Council resolutions 1539 and 1612 without further delay. We also urge governments to take all practicable measures to protect children outside of direct conflict zones, including refugees, who are orphaned, displaced, unaccompanied or otherwise made vulnerable to abuse as a result of conflict.
In this regard, the situation of girls deserves particular attention. In its statement under this agenda item last year, the European Union highlighted its Guidelines on Children and Armed Conflict, which provide a framework for our activity in this area. Over the past year we have continued to implement these. We continue to support a range of programmes in countries affected by armed conflict, including demobilisation, rehabilitation and anti-trafficking initiatives. We also continue to raise
our concerns with the governments of countries affected by conflict, both in our regular political dialogue and in specific contacts undertaken to implement the Guidelines. And where it is appropriate, we address our concerns direct to non-State armed groups which continue to flout international standards by recruiting children into their ranks.
The European Union is currently reviewing its collective work in this area to coincide with the second anniversary of the Guidelines at the end of the year. We remain committed to promoting and protecting the rights of children affected by armed conflict and hope to improve the effectiveness of our interventions by implementing the recommendations of this review.
The European Union welcomes the adoption of Security Council resolution 1612 on 26 July 2004, on children and armed conflict. We pledge to support the efforts of the Secretary General to implement the monitoring and reporting mechanism, as called for in this resolution. If this mechanism is to work, our efforts on the ground need to be more joined up. Member States, civil society actors, UN country teams and peacekeeping missions share a collective responsibility to make the mechanism a
success. It is our hope that the monitoring and reporting mechanism will provide reliable, accurate and timely information that will lead to effective action on the part of Member States, armed groups and the international community as a whole.
Once again, the EU urges all Member States that have not already done so to sign, ratify and fully implement the relevant international instruments aimed at the protection of children affected by armed conflict, particularly the second Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. We reaffirm our support for the ICC in the fight against impunity, including in the case of crimes committed against children in situations
of armed conflict.
And finally on this subject, the EU would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the Secretary General's former Special Representative Olara Otunnu for the pivotal contribution he made during his tenure towards addressing the issue of children affected by armed conflict, through advocacy and awareness-raising at all levels.
Chairperson,
The plight of children affected by HIV and AIDS was another priority issue at the Special Session of the GA. The European Union remains concerned about the impact of the AIDS epidemic on children. The promotion and protection of human rights is essential to safeguarding human dignity in the context of HIV and AIDS and to ensuring an effective response. The European Union stresses the importance of effective national frameworks in response to HIV and AIDS to ensure co-ordinated, transparent,
participatory and accountable approaches.
As well as children themselves living with the virus, we are concerned about the welfare and rights of children whose parents have HIV, those orphaned by AIDS and children at risk, particularly sexually exploited children and those made more vulnerable by armed conflict. In this regard, the European Union welcomes the special focus on children orphaned or separated from their parents by HIV or AIDS at the Committee on the Rights of the Child's Day of General Discussion on 16 September this
year.
Prevention has to be at the heart of any comprehensive policy to address HIV and AIDS. And the key to prevention is education. For example, primary school children, even in the worst affected communities, are largely uninfected and represent a window of hope for the future: if these children could grow up free of HIV it would change the face of the epidemic in a generation. The European Union supports the call for universal access to comprehensive information related to AIDS prevention, as
contained in the UNAIDS policy on prevention adopted in June this year.
Throughout the world, children continue needlessly to contract the HIV virus at birth because insufficient support is given to expectant mothers to prevent mother-to-child transmission. Such support should include not only the provision of essential drugs and care for mothers-to-be, but also voluntary counselling and testing for pregnant women and their partners. Women need access to reproductive health services as agreed in the Cairo Programme of Action to be able to make informed choices
about pregnancy and childbearing. Bearing in mind that some girls are married as young as 11 or 12 years old, we must recognise the rights of young people concerning their own sexual and reproductive health in order to prevent HIV infection and early pregnancy.
The European Union is also committed to the universal provision of quality treatment and care for those who need it in all parts of the world. For example, this is fully reflected in the EU's near neighbours policy. We fully endorse the call for full and equal access to treatment contained in the outcome of the G8 summit. Youth friendly services must be developed to ensure equal access for children and young people.
But access to medication is not the only obstacle. Many of the medications currently on the market are simply not suitable for children. We call upon the pharmaceutical industry and all other stakeholders to ensure the development of medication that is suitable for children of all ages by the 2010 deadline.
As if coping with the disease itself were not difficult enough, the pandemic has brought with it a raft of associated discriminations. Children suffer more than most from stigma based on HIV status - actual or presumed - of the child or the parent. Similarly, under-lying gender-based discrimination in inheritance law often puts children orphaned by AIDS at an even greater disadvantage. We urge all countries to address inequalities in the law, and to sign and implement the UN Framework for the
Protection, Care and Support of Orphans and Vulnerable Children Living in a World with HIV and AIDS.
But of course signing documents and expressing concern alone is not nearly enough. We need to take concrete actions if we are to make a real difference to the lives of children living with HIV and AIDS and to prevent further infections. There is an urgent need for short term solutions as well as longer term strategies for the care of orphans and vulnerable children, with an emphasis on strengthening families and communities, to counteract the devastating effects for future generations and
societies as a whole.
The EU is committed to playing its part to ensure the successful replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. And we are determined to work with the UN system and other partners to take forward the recommendations of the Global Task Team.
The European Union reaffirms its commitment to the outcomes of the International Conference on Population and Development, the Special Sessions of the General Assembly on Children and on HIV/AIDS, and this year's High Level Meeting of the GA on HIV/AIDS. These documents provide a strong basis for our work over the coming years. We have a collective duty to ensure that the rights of children living with HIV and AIDS are properly taken into account both at the upcoming Special Session on HIV/AIDS
and in all our programmes and policies. In this regard, we welcome the decision of UNICEF to include assistance to children affected by HIV and AIDS as one of its strategic priorities in its latest five-year plan and look forward to working with them to implement it.
Thank you, Chairperson.
* Croatia continues to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.
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