Ladies and Gentlemen, Distinguished guests, Dear friends and allies of children:

It is a privilege and pleasure to be with you today. I extend to you all warm greetings from the members of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, now meeting in Geneva. We thank you for your work on behalf of children and child rights.

I want also, to give my personal thanks to the Tunisian Association for the Rights of the Child and the International Institute for the Rights of the Child (Switzerland) for marking it possible for me to be here. I also owe a debt to diplomatic representatives of Tunisia posted in Geneva and Jakarta who have gone to great lengths to ensure that my journey was smooth and well managed.

Today we celebrate the rights of the child -- each child in all of our countries. All of our children have the same rights and freedoms inherent as members oh the human family and whatever the circumstances of their birth -- the right to life, to dignity of person, a life free of discrimination, the right to develop their full person hood. And yet, we know, that through history, rights have been ignored and violated; selectively given and selectively withheld. This has been particularly so for children most of who are vulnerable, voiceless, and often invisible. Poverty is often mentioned as a justification for postponement of efforts to fulfil our obligations to hinder a child’s access to or enjoyment of their rights.

With the General Assembly’s adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the child in 1989 the global family said with one voice «children have rights and they and their rights are too important to be left to chance!» Since 191 countries (covering 96 % of the world’s child population) have ratified the Convention thus committing them selves to fulfil the obligation to promote and protect all the rights of the child set forth in the Convention. Formulation of the Convention, a straightforward but comprehensive statement of mutually interactive and indivisible rights, was the first step in our attempt to do better.

In the decade since adoption, the Committee on the Rights of the Child has been in a privileged position to observe the world’s first efforts to give life and meaning to the Convention in the daily life of the children of the world. Charged by the Convention with «examining progress made by the States Parties», we are not prosecutors. We are part of the global learning process about promotion and protection of child rights and we have learned much from dialog with representatives of States Parties.

Let me share with you some impressions about progress since then and some thoughts about how we can help our children build a better future as we enter the 21st Century.

 

General impressions: progress but violations continue

A cursory survey of the world scene shows a few bright spots. I many parts of the world, for example, children's right to survival and development have made great strides and we should take pride in that fact. However, we know that those accomplishments are still too easily and too often threatened by economic recession, political instability, social unrest. In addition, if we look at the full range of children's rights set forth in the Convention we find there are my reمايning problem areas. There are basic rights, which have influence throughout a child’s life. For example, in some countries birth registration covers only 30-40 % of all children leaving the balance with no proof of age, birthplace etc. Many other rights are not yet well understood and, sadly, in many situations violations of child rights continue unchallenged. Worse still, there are some violations, which are studiously ignored.

How many children are physically abused and yet little is done? The occasional story, which breaks in the newspaper, cالىses us to gasp and then we throw the paper away and try to forget. How many children are sexually abused/sexually exploited, in some cases with involvement of their own family, and yet no action is taken against the perpetrators or for the care, treatment, rehabilitation and reintegration of the children who have been so badly used. How many children physical security becالىse of discrimination directed at their ethnic background. How many street children are taken into custody by security forces, humiliated and abused before being thrown back on the streets? Millions of children -- boys and girls -- are forced to take part in armed conflict, work under conditions of bonded labor, accept a life of prostitution and they hear no world raised in their defense.

All of these are violations of children’s rights, which go unchallenged, which damage the child and, left unchecked, damage society as a whole. Furthermore, they often become self-perpetuation. Each child learns what he or she lives: we know that the child raised in the setting of violence and abused is more likely to become an abuser him/ herself; the child discriminated against learns to practice exclusion and discrimination to protect him/herself; the child tالىght only to obey, not to discuss, looks forward to the day when he/she can give orders, not listen In view of the inter-generational impact of violations of rights I am pleased that today we are giving special attention to the issue of human rights and children -- looking for ways to improve our record in protection and implementation of children’s rights

Putting international tools to word

The task is not easy but neither is it impossible. If we are systematic and use all the resources at hand -- domestic and international -- there will be progress

Let’s talk briefly about international tools. Drawing on the collective wisdom and experience of the global community, each of us, in our respective countries should ensure national ratification and socialization of all six major human rights instruments(*) In addition, attention should be given to major international conventions, guidelines and work plans which promote, protect, or provide standards for child rights. For example,

In the field of child labor, ILO Convention 138 on minimum age for joining the word force, ILO Convention 182 on elimination of the worst forms of child labor

In the field of juvenile justice,

The UN standard minimum rules for administration of juvenile justice, (the beijing rules)

The UN guidelines for prevention of juvenile delinquency (the Riyadh Guidelines)

The UN rules for protection of juveniles deprived of their liberty

The UN standard minimum rules for non-custodial measures (the Tokyo rules)

In the field of sexual exploitation, the Agenda for Action of the World Congress in Stockholm Against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children.

All of these are internationally agreed to and can be extremely useful tools.

An Active, interactive system for child protection:

Within each of our own States we also need to develop a multi-layer and multifaceted system for protection of children and their rights. At the highest level we need to develop appropriate legal infrastructure which is child-centered and child-friendly; a system that affords appropriate protection to the child who is either victim or perpetrator; a system recognizing the special needs and rights of the child in relation to the law.

There is no question that around the world, more needs to be done about prosecution of violations of child rights. However, as we all know, a legal system on paper but unknown to law enforcement personnel and officers of the court or out of reach of the child needing protection is of non-benefit. Thus, careful thought must be given to training as well as to development of a complaint proceمنre, which is accessible and responsive to the child, or allies of children. And if our concern, not just violation or fulfillment of law, the complaints proceمنre must have links to social, medical, and possibility economic services, as well as legal services. The child witness, the child perpetrator all are in need of and entitled to special measures of protection and we must organize the systems necessary to serve and support them all.

The family and the community have key role to play in the child protection system. But they need help to understand their role and empowerment to play it well. Public policy, public eمنcation, community discussion and the media all con contribute to creating an environment favorable to protection of children, prevention of violation (including in the family), and supportive of appropriate care and treatment for child victims. An especially important role of government is development of laws, which support and encourage communities to protect and promote child rights and to report violations.

In developing this system I urge that special effort be made to seek out, listen to, and incorporate the ideas of children themselves, especially adolescents -- all kinds of children, with all kinds of experience with the law. They have information the rest of us do not have and if we are to have a good system -- that child-friendly, child-centered system I mentioned earlier -- we need their input. We must learn to see these young people as our active partners not just as passive beneficiaries.

Conclusion

In conclusion, let me say clearly: the humane, open, fair world to which we aspire cannot be built and sustained by young people who enter aمنlt-hood having never learned the fundamentals of human rights. Equally important to the legal infrastructure and systems of protection, we need to provide our children opportunity to practice the principles, habits, and skills needed for promotion and protection of rights. They need to understand their own rights and the obligations that go with those rights; the role of rights in national life and nation building; the contribution that mutual respect and fair play can make to مايntenance of peace and development in the family and community. If, in this way, we can begin to create a culture of human rights among our young people perhaps the rule of law can become a way of life rather than a subject for discussion, fulfillment of human rights can become a commonly understood and shared goal.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child is a wonderful statement of rights but it is to have meaning we must give life to those rights. Let us commit our-selves today to work hard to equip our societies and our children better than we were that they might accomplish more than we have in this field and give birth to a new, more equitable global community in the 21et century.

Thank you. God be with us all with our children.

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(*) Remarks at an international seminar organized by The Tunisian Association for the Rights of the Child 19 September 1999.

(*) International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, International Convenient on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, Convention Against torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, The Convention on the Rights of the Child