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A YOUNG PERSONS GUIDE TO:
THE UNITED NATIONS SPECIAL SESSION ON CHILDREN
You are aou! !o rea" a #a#er !$a! wi%% !e%% &ou 'ore aou! !$e Uni!e" Na!ion( S#ecia% Se((ion on C$i%"ren.
This guide has been developed so that you can have a clear picture of what will take place in New York City on
May 8 - 10 !00!" You will learn about all the following infor#ation$
%hat is the &nited Nations 'pecial 'ession on Children(
)vents that led to the &nited Nations 'pecial 'ession on Children"
*etails about what is happening at the 'pecial 'ession"
+nfor#ation about docu#ents being discussed at the 'pecial 'ession"
,nd #uch #ore"
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)efore &ou ge! (!ar!e" !$ere are a few wor"( an" (o'e infor'a!ion &ou ($ou%" *now aou!:
T$e Uni!e" Na!ion($ -ften referred to as the .&N/ for short it was created after the 'econd %orld %ar" +t provides
a place for all the countries of the world to discuss proble#s and deal with issues that affect the# all" +t has a key
role in trying to #aintain international peace and security" The &nited Nations is based in New York and 0eneva but
also has offices in other countries"
T$e UN Genera% A((e'%&$ The &nited Nations is #ade up of 181 countries that are all represented in the &N 0eneral
,sse#bly" The 0eneral ,sse#bly is like a parlia#ent of the nations which #eets in New York to discuss the world2s #ost
i#portant proble#s" ,lthough the &N is not a world govern#ent it is a place where countries can agree how they want
to work together to tackle issues"
Defini!ion of a c$i%" $ &sing the &N Convention on the 3ights of the Child a child is considered to be any hu#an being
below the age of 18 4C3C ,rticle 15"
Officia% UN re#or!(+ "ocu'en!( an" #a#er( have strange letters and nu#bers on the# for e6a#ple$ ,7817!89 or
8:71;" These nu#ber and letters are used so that docu#ents don<t get #i6ed up and confused with other docu#ents
with si#ilar na#es or titles"
T$e Secre!ar& Genera% $ =ofi ,nnan is the head of the &nited Nations called the 'ecretary 0eneral" >e was elected in
111? as the &N2s seventh 'ecretary 0eneral" 3ecently he was re-elected for a second period of four years"
This guide gives you a @uick and brief look at infor#ation relating to the 'pecial 'ession on Children" +f you want 'ore
infor'a!ion check out one of the web sites below" 0ood luckA
www"unicef"org
www"savethechildren"net
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THE ROAD TO THE 2002 UN SPECIAL SESSION ON CHILDREN:
HOW DID WE GET HERE?
1. The United Nation
Con!ention on the
Ri"ht o# the Chi$d
On November 20
th
, 1989 the
United Nations General Assembly
promised certain things to children
when it ormally adopted the
United Nations !onvention on the
"ights o the !hild #also $nown as
the !"!%& 'he !"! provides the
ramewor$ or the
promotion and protection o the
basic h(man rights or all children,
everywhere, all the time&
'he !"! e)plains that
children*s rights incl(de the
right to+
be protected rom all
types o harm,
be provided with things
they need to s(rvive and
grow,
ta$e part in comm(nity
and political lie,
grow (p in their own
amily, c(lt(re, lang(age
and religion whenever
possible&
2. The 1%%0 Wo&$d S'((it
on Chi$d&en
-n 1990 governments held a big
meeting called .'he /orld 0(mmit
or !hildren1
in New 2or$& 'he main goal o the
meeting was to develop promises
and commitments
to improve and invest in the lives
o children& At this meeting they
promised to always
p(t the best interest o children
irst, in good times and in bad
times& 'hey made 23 promises
or children which they said they
wo(ld achieve by the year 2000
and which they p(t in a
doc(ment called the ./orld
4eclaration on the 0(rvival,
5rotection and 4evelopment
o !hildren and 5lan o Action1&
). Nationa$ P&o"&a((e o#
A*tion
Ater the 1990 /orld 0(mmit or
!hildren, world leaders ret(rned
to their home co(ntries& 'hey now
had to loo$ at ways to ma$e the
promises a reality in their home
co(ntries& 6any co(ntries
developed what is called, .A
National 5rogramme o Action1&
'hese 5rogrammes o Action
e)plained how governments
wo(ld achieve the goals and
promises they had made& 'hey
also incl(ded ways o wor$ing in
partnership with non7
governmental organi8ations, other
levels o government, the private
sector and civic gro(ps& 'hese
5rogrammes also e)plained how
governments wo(ld collect
inormation and monitor dierent
things that aect the well being o
children& 'his collection and
monitoring wo(ld help them to
b(ild on and develop programmes
to deal with any problems that
come (p&
+. The ,id De*ade Re!ie-
REVIEW PROCESSES ARE
LIKE A REPORT CARD
FOR GOVERNMENTS
-n 9ebr(ary 199: co(ntries were
as$ed to s(bmit a report detailing
the progress they had made so ar
in achieving the goals and
promises they had made at the
/orld 0(mmit or !hildren& 5art
o the reason or this was that
many o the promises made at the
1990 /orld 0(mmit or !hildren
were already meant to have been
(lilled by 199;& 'hese short ;
year promises were s(ppose to
ma$e it easier to (lil the
promises or the year 2000& <y
199: a ew things had improved
<U', a lot o wor$ still needed to
be done& All the people and
governments involved were as$ed
to increase their eorts and
remember their promises&
=
.. The /End0De*ade
Re!ie-1 P&o*ee
At the end o 10 years, each
government was e)pected to give
a (ll report detailing their
achievements and ail(res over the
last 10 years& Governments were
not the only gro(ps to contrib(te
to the reports& -n some cases non
governmental organi8ations, civil
society organi8ations, religio(s
gro(ps, the media, children and
yo(ng people and others wo(ld
also contrib(te to the details o the
report&
'he res(lts o these end7decade
reviews and the res(lts or the
world as a whole 7 the
achievements and ail(res 7 can
be o(nd in the UN 0ecretary
General*s "eport, ./e the
!hildren1&
2. The ) P&e3*o(
'o get ready or the 0pecial
0ession on !hildren in 6ay 2002,
preparations needed to be made&
-n the months leading (p to the
0pecial 0ession on !hildren there
were = meetings o the
5reparatory !ommittee or
>5repcoms?& 'hese meeting were
all held in New 2or$ !ity at the
United Nations b(ilding& 'heir
dates were+
'he 1
st
5repcom 7 6ay 2000
'he 2
nd
5repcom 7 @an(ary
2001
'he =
rd
5repcom 7 @(ne 2001
'he main p(rpose o the
5repcoms was to loo$ bac$ on the
s(ccesses and ail(res o the past
10 years, to begin drats and
disc(ssions abo(t (t(re promises
and to plan or the UN 0pecial
0ession on !hildren&
4. Re"iona$ P&o*ee
'here were regional preparatory
meetings held thro(gho(t the
years 2000 and 2001& 'hese
meetings were an opport(nity or
people to gather and disc(ss iss(es
speciic to their regions& 'he main
topics o disc(ssions at these
meeting were+
A review o the achievements
and ail(res since 1990
5reparations or the 2002
0pecial 0ession on !hildren
An opport(nity to loo$
orward and thin$ abo(t new
commitments
9ive maAor regional meeting were
held+
1& 'he ;
th
6inisterial 6eeting on
!hildren and 0ocial 5olicy in the
Americas
Bingston, @amaica October, 7 2000
2& 'he 0o(th Asia Cigh Devel
6eeting on -nvesting in !hildren
Bathmand(, Nepal 6ay, 7 2001
=& 'he ;
th
East Asia and 5aciic
6inisterial !ons(ltation
<eiAing, !hina 7 6ay, 2001
F& 'he <erlin -ntergovernmental
!onerence or !hildren in
E(rope and !entral Asia
<erlin, Germany G 6ay, 2001
;& 5an7 Arican 9or(m on the
9(t(re o !hildren
!airo, Egypt G 6ay, 2001
5. The United Nation
S3e*ia$ Seion on
Chi$d&en
10 years have come and gone
since the 1990 /orld 0(mmit on
!hildren& -t is now time or
governments to thin$ abo(t their
new promises or the ne)t 10 G1;
years&
'he 0pecial 0ession on !hildren
will be held in 6ay, 2002&
Governments will be the main
participants b(t many other
organi8ations and people will be
incl(ded, s(ch as, non7
governmental organi8ations,
children?s advocates and children
themselves& -t will give the world a
chance to see how children?s lives
have improved over the past 10
years and what still needs to be
accomplished or the (t(re& -t will
also be an opport(nity to improve
the way the world views and treats
yo(ng people&
F
Now that you understand how we got to where we are today you #ight have a few @uestions"
This section will try to answer so#e of your @uestions"
,$a! I( A S#ecia% Se((ion of !$e UN Genera% A((e'%&
)very year the &N 0eneral ,sse#bly #eets on a regular basis to discuss various @uestions" 'o#eti#es the 0eneral
,sse#bly decides to have a B'pecial 'ession< to discuss a particular proble# or issue for a few days" 'ince the &nited
Nations was founded the 0eneral ,sse#bly has held over !0 B'pecial 'essions<" They have looked at issues such as social
develop#ent wo#en and disar#a#ent" +n Cune this year the 0eneral ,sse#bly held a 'pecial 'ession to look at how the
world should deal with >+D7,+*'" This is the first ti#e in the history of the &nited Nations that a 'pecial 'ession on
children is being held"
,$& I( T$ere A S#ecia% Se((ion on C$i%"ren
,s noted earlier 11 years ago there was a #aEor international #eeting on children called the %orld 'u##it on Children"
+t agreed !? goals that the govern#ents of the world would try and achieve for children" The 'pecial 'ession on
Children is being held to look at what has happened to children since 1110 and to agree what the world wants to do for
children over the ne6t ten years"
;
,$o ,i%% )e Going To T$e S#ecia% Se((ion
The 'pecial 'ession is a #eeting of govern#ents who will agree together what they want to do for children" The #ain
people at the 'pecial 'ession will be govern#ent Bdelegates< F people who represent their govern#ents" 'o#e of the#
work in New York for their govern#ent and others will have co#e fro# the capital of their country especially for this
#eeting" 'o#e of these will be heads of state Gsuch as HresidentsI but there will also be Hri#e Ministers #inisters and
other politicians" Most of the govern#ent delegates however will be civil servants or officials" There will also be #any
govern#ent delegates who will be under 18 years of ageA
There will also be #any Bdelegates< fro# non-govern#ental organisations 4N0-s5 who have co#e to the 'pecial 'ession to
talk about the situation of the children in their country or to highlight particular issues such as child labour or refugee
children" There will be #any &nder 18s a#ong these delegates too"
There will also be representatives fro# &N and other international organisations" The largest nu#ber will co#e fro#
&N+C)J F the &N Children<s Jund F which has done a lot of the work to #ake the 'pecial 'ession happen" -thers will
represent agencies such as the &N organisation looking after refugees or the %orld Kank Gwhich lends #oney to poor
countries to help the# developI"
,$a! ,i%% )e Going On A! !$e S#ecia% Se((ion
The #ain business of the 'pecial 'ession will be govern#ents talking about what they have done over the last eleven
years for children and7or what they think should happen over the ne6t ten years" There will be lots of speeches about
this" There will also be ; Broundtables< where govern#ents will be discussing key issues" 3oundtables are not actually
round" +t is a plenary session with for#al presentations followed by govern#ents reading prepared state#ents" ,t the
roundtables at this 'pecial 'ession each one will have ! children as speakers"
There will be lots of Bside events< in the &N building and outside it" 'o#e of these will be organised by govern#ents and
so#e by N0-s" They will discuss a wide range of proble#s and issues that affect children" They are not part of the
#ain business of the #eeting but are an opportunity to hear fro# children and adult Be6perts< about what should be done
for children"
:
,$a! Are T$e -ain Docu'en!( )eing Di(cu((e"
There are two #ain docu#ents being discussed at the 'pecial 'ession"
The first is the report called B%e the Children< which has been written by the head of the &N 'ecretary 0eneral =ofi
,nnan" This is a long report that looks at what has happened to children over the last ten years" +ts #ain conclusion is
that the govern#ents did not keep #ost of the pro#ises they #ade to children in 1110 because they did not invest
enough #oney in children Ge"g" in schools or clean water suppliesI" +n addition the rich countries did not give enough help
to poorer countries to help the# achieve the goals" >owever lots of good things did happen and #any #ore children are
alive today because of the efforts that govern#ents #ade"
, child friendly 'u##ary of this report is included in this infor#ation kit"
The other #ain docu#ent at the 'pecial 'ession is called B, %orld Jit for Children<" This docu#ent is also known as the
-utco#e *ocu#ent" This docu#ent has been discussed by govern#ents at the &N over the last nine #onths and contains
the pro#ises that govern#ents will #ake to children for the ne6t 10 years" The docu#ent says that there are four key
issues facing children that need to be looked at F health education >+D7,+*' and the protection of children fro#
violence abuse and e6ploitation" %hen the 'pecial 'ession is over the BHlan of ,ction< in this docu#ent will guide what
govern#ents do for children"
, child friendly version of the docu#ent B, %orld Jit for Children< is also included in this infor#ation kit"
,$a! ,i%% Ha##en Af!er !$e S#ecia% Se((ion
The govern#ents will return ho#e and begin to work out how they can begin to succeed in achieving the pro#ises they
have #ade to children" Ky the end of ne6t year each govern#ent will have to develop a BNational Hrogra##e of ,ction<
4NH,5 to help achieve the goals set out in the -utco#e *ocu#ent" Children and N0-s should be involved in trying to
help reach the goals and in #aking sure that the govern#ents do their best to keep their pro#ises" 0overn#ents will
have to #ake regular reports on how well they are doing"
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