UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director Henrietta Fore delivers an opening remarks to a UN General Assembly high-level meeting commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) at the UN headquarters in New York, on Nov. 20, 2019. As the world marks the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), top UN officials on Wednesday urged refreshed commitment to match the gains of the past in the next 30 years. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)
UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- As the world marks the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), top UN officials on Wednesday urged refreshed commitment to match the gains of the past in the next 30 years.
UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director Henrietta Fore, delivering her opening remarks to a UN General Assembly high-level meeting commemorating the anniversary, said the achievements the world has made since the convention was signed are undeniable.
She cited progress made in education, vaccination, child marriage prevention, and reduction in five-year mortality rate -- "more children are living past their fifth birthdays than at any moment in history."
However, she pointed out the commemoration is "not just to celebrate the progress of the last three decades, but to accelerate progress for children's rights in the next 30 years."
She encouraged efforts be made to improve children's access to vaccination, nutrition and education they need, and to relieve grievances of children living in conflict-affected areas.
Moreover, she pointed out children of today are facing new challenges that are "unimaginable" 30 years ago -- climate change, rising migration, safety in an online world, and long-running conflicts.
"We must match the historic gains of the last 30 years with a new commitment to support children in this enormously complex, ever-challenging world," Fore urged, calling on the world to deliver more in health care, quality education, healthy food and disaster relief, among others.
Also at the opening session, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, while acknowledging past achievements, pointed out there is still more work ahead and children must be at the heart of all efforts.
She noted there are children forced from their homes by conflict or natural hazards, living in slums and isolated villages without health clinics, recruited as child soldiers, and labelled as terrorists...
"Unless we act now, many of today's children face a bleak future," she said.
She pledged the UN will work with governments to develop new programs that can keep all children safe, healthy and in school; with businesses to raise more resources to invest in children; with the global community to build trust, prevent and end wars.
Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, president of the UN General Assembly, for his part, underlined the need to make girls a priority.
In his opening address, he noted that some 650 million girls globally reportedly have been married off before turning 18.
"It is crucial that girls are encouraged to stay in school and attain necessary capacity for mental and human capacity development," Muhammad-Bande said.
Following the opening session, an interactive segment was held with the participation of UNICEF goodwill ambassadors, youth advocates, high-level representatives and specialists.
Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, focused on school bullying.
While three decades of technological developments have empowered children, now the Internet has been used to bully, intimidate and exploit children, Bachelet reported in Geneva through a video.
"We need to take action to protect children from exploitation and harm," she said. "We need action to ensure that children are empowered to raise their voices -- and to protect from physical attacks and other forms of abuse the children who stand up to defend human rights and the rights of the child."
Football legend David Beckham, though no longer a child, recalled his youth in the East End of London, where family, teachers and later, coaches, supported his dream of becoming a soccer player.
As a UNICEF goodwill ambassador since 2005, Beckham has seen how scores of children worldwide have not been as fortunate.
"Children hungry and sick. Children living through wars. Children who lost their parents in earthquakes and floods. Girls and boys with different stories and backgrounds from my own, but like all children they have one thing in common: they have ambitions and they have dreams for a better future," he said.
UNICEF China Goodwill Ambassador Wang Yuan, also a Chinese teen idol, appealed for the promotion of quality education for all children across the globe.
Since the adoption of the CRC 30 years ago, tremendous progress has been made in promoting the children's right to education, he said, but globally many children are left behind -- they have not enjoyed their proper right and the case was particularly grave in mid- and low-income countries.
The member of Chinese boy band TFBoys said the world needs a "revolution" to cope with the "crisis," calling on people of all ages to contribute to the efforts toward solutions.
In particular, he stressed the importance of quality early education, saying primary education should be ensured for children from remote rural areas and from migrant families, and that education for teenagers should consider their various needs, including the need for acquiring vocational skills.
Besides the opening plenary and the interactive segment, Wednesday's meeting also entailed a high-level plenary meeting, where delegates of UN member states expressed their views on promoting children's rights.
The landmark CRC was adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by the General Assembly on Nov. 20, 1989. The day is also observed as World Children's Day. The convention came into force on Sept. 2, 1990.
