UN urges global action on children

“As the first decade of the 21st century comes to a close, the convention stands at a pivotal moment,” she told a news conference launching the report at the UN headquarters in New York on Thursday.

“Its relevance remains timeless. The challenge for the next 20 years is to build on the progress achieved, working together to reach those children who are still being denied their rights to survival, development, protection and participation.”

Veneman said it was unacceptable that more than 24,000 children under the age of five die every day from preventable causes such as pneumonia, malaria, measles and malnutrition.

About 200 million children are chronically malnourished, more than 140 million are forced to work, and millions of girls and boys of all ages are subjected to sexual violence, the report says.

Violence

It also estimates that up to 1.5 billion children experience violence annually.

Veneman said there was a new focus on safeguarding the young “from violence, abuse, discrimination and exploitation”, adding that children in Africa and Asia suffered the most.

“More than nine out of 10 children who are not attending school, who are malnourished, and who die before the age of five live in these two continents,” she said.

“Exploitation of children is not simply a breach of an international treaty,” she said.

“It’s pain. It’s suffering and confusion and damage. It’s hope lost and hope betrayed.”