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Chairperson
Distinguished delegates
At the outset, we would like to thank the Secretary General for his comprehensive reports presented under this agenda item.
As we move forward to review the progress on the four priority areas identified in the historic document "A world fit for children", we find persistent challenges in meeting the targets set out by the twenty-seventh special session of the General Assembly. As pointed out by the Secretary General, the realization of goals; to provide healthy lives and quality education to our children, protecting them against abuse, violence and exploitation and combating HIV/AIDs, remain mixed.
We still live in a world where the number of children affected by armed conflicts and natural disasters is increasing, posing new threats and significant challenges. Migrants, refugees and internally displaced children and children under foreign occupation remain the most vulnerable. They suffer the most from war. The killing and maiming of children, their recruitment and use as child soldiers, rape and other forms of sexual violence, abduction of children; attacks against schools and hospitals and denial of humanitarian access to assist children are points of concern for every one.
The report of the Secretary General A/62/259 rightly points out that many of these challenges are rooted in inequality or discrimination. They arise from a failure to extend the rights enjoyed by some children to all children. This discrimination persists between children of developing and developed countries, amongst children of ethnic minorities and most pervasively between boys and girls because of the entrenched phenomena of gender discrimination that exists in all societies.
Chairperson
Promotion of an agenda for development, implementation of MDGs and political will for conflict resolution and focus on child education and child health are the important steps which are crucial for the promotion and protection of the rights of the child.
The report of the Secretary General recommends that to fulfill the rights of children and to give them the best start in life will require scaling up of efforts both by the Governments and the international community.
Pakistan, on its part, is fully committed to achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) including those that relate to child health and education by 2015. Pakistan is a party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), ILO's Core Convention and signatory to the Optional Protocols on Child Pornography and Children's Recruitment in Armed Conflicts.
The efforts of the Government of Pakistan to create a healthy environment for children who constitute 48% of our total population are based on a national framework, and the goals set by the World Fit for Children, Millennium Declaration and relevant international conventions.
I would like to share some of the steps taken in Pakistan to promote the rights of the child:
First: A National Commission for Child Welfare and Development with its subsidiary institutions all over the country is dedicated to promote the implementation of Convention on the Rights of Child. This Commission assesses the impact of the constitutional, legal and administrative provisions on welfare and development of children and suggests measures.
Two: Corporal punishment in schools has been banned. The minimum age for marriage is clearly established for boys and for girls. Besides, A Child Protection Bill, Juvenile Justice Administration System and National Child Policy and Plan of Action to Combat Child Abuse and Sexual Exploitation are being finalized. The Plan of Action will have a special focus on the girl child.
Three: Prevention and Control of Human Trafficking Ordinance 2002 bans trafficking of children. Pakistan is also making efforts for repatriation and rehabilitation of the children smuggled abroad for commercial purposes.
Four: To promote literacy, education is free up-to 10th grade in all four provinces. The literacy drive lays equal emphasis on the girl child. The National Plan of action on Education for All aims to achieve universal enrolment of primary level by 2015. Special incentives such as provision of uniforms and text books and provision of meals in schools are available to encourage education of girl child.
Five: Eradication of child labour is also a priority for the Government. In collaboration with private sector, ILO and civil society, child labour has been successfully eradicated from soccer ball and carpet industry.
Chairperson
In conclusion, we agree with the Secretary General's observation that the journey to 2010 and to 2015, the years on which most targets for children converge, will be demanding. Achieving these goals will require unprecedented efforts to overcome surmountable obstacles, including humanitarian crises, the effects of HIV, growing income inequality across the globe and concerns about the effects of migration and climate change. These obstacles demand vigilance and more extensive forms of international cooperation.
The paramount question during the period 2010-2015 will be whether in a world of unprecedented prosperity, enough resources and commitment have been invested to fulfill the rights of children everywhere. Indeed, the quality and prosperity of societies tomorrow will depend on how well the rights of today's children are fulfilled. We hope that the Commemorative High -level Plenary Meeting on the follow up to the outcome of the special session on children, to be held in December this year, will address some of these issues.
I thank you