*EPF304 04/12/00
Text: Nancy Rubin April 11 Remarks to U.N. Commission on Human Rights
(Education is path to better life for every child) (1940)

The United States believes very strongly that education, not hard labor, is the path to a better life for every child, says Ambassador Nancy Rubin, head of the
of the U.S. delegation to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights.

"In developing countries, some 250 million children between the ages of five and 14 must go to work outside the home; nearly half of them work full-time," Rubin told the commission in Geneva April 11. She said few of them have much chance to go to school, and "if we in the human rights community will not be their champions, who will?"

There is no task more important, she said, than to defend children's rights and provide young people the environment and tools they need to succeed.

Rubin added that how these children are treated and how they are prepared for the world they will inherit will determine the history of the next century.

Following is the text of her remarks:

(begin text)

Amb. Nancy Rubin
Head of U.S. Delegation, U.N. Commission on Human Rights
On Item 13, the Rights of the Child
April 11, 2000

Mr. Chairman:

There are now more than 1.2 billion people on earth between the ages of 10 and 19, one-fifth of the world's population. In many developing countries, the percentage is over one-third.

What happens to these children -- how they are treated and how they are prepared for the world they will inherit -- will determine the history of this next century.

There is no task more important to us, therefore, -- as governments and advocates for positive change -- than to defend children's rights and provide young people the environment and tools they need to succeed.

This has been a remarkable year for children and the community of nations. First, the International Labor Organization adopted the Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labor last June. This is one of most significant steps the international community has ever taken to protect children and give young people everywhere a decent chance to have a decent life.

As President Clinton said of the Convention a few months ago: "This is a victory for the children of the world, and especially for the tens of millions of them who are still forced to work in conditions that shock the conscience and haunt the soul."

Indeed, millions of young people are forced to become soldiers in conflicts they barely comprehend; or lured or sold into prostitution; or indentured and enslaved to pay family debts; or made to work in extremely unsafe conditions.

For all of these children, there is a little more hope than there was before.

I am proud that the United States was one of the first nations to sign and ratify ILO Convention 182, and we are very pleased that the Seychelles, Malawi, Ireland, Slovakia, Brazil, Indonesia and the United Kingdom have ratified it, too. Others countries have announced their intention to do so. We hope they will ratify it soon, and we call on all nations to give this major international effort the prompt attention it clearly merits.

The international community has also agreed upon two optional protocols on the Rights of the Child that should contribute significantly to children's well-being. The first of these addresses the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. It criminalizes these degrading practices, and contains several practical measures that protect the rights and interests of child victims within the international criminal justice system. Those who violate these provisions can be prosecuted, irrespective of where they are found. And I can assure you, that in the United States, those who traffic in children's lives will be prosecuted and severely punished.

The second protocol is on children in armed conflict. This was a major breakthrough for the tens of millions of adolescents who have been exposed to the horrors of war and conflict, whether as soldiers, porters, sexual slaves, or refugees.

Under the terms of the protocol, governments are required to raise the minimum age for conscription from 15 to 18 and the age for voluntary recruitment above the current international standard. Further, governments must "take all feasible measures to ensure that members of their armed forces who have not attained the age of 18 do not take a direct part in hostilities." Countries that become parties to the protocol will also be required to prohibit non-state forces from using soldiers who are less than 18 years old.

Now, this Commission must endorse them and send them forward for early adoption by the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly. We look forward to working with all our international partners to make these protocols effective.

But it will take more than that to shield young people from the cruelties of human life, and more than a convention to give every child a chance to reach his or her full potential.

There are some 1.2 billion people around the world who live in deep and bitter poverty; half of them are children. We can do better than that, Mr. Chairman. Indeed, we must.

One of the keys is education. In developing countries, some 250 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 must go to work outside the home; nearly half of them work full-time. Few of them have much chance to go to school. If we in the human rights community will not be their champions, who will?

Yet, sadly, not all countries appreciate how intimately education is tied to a nation's development. Some do not even require universal primary school education. Further, in some countries, girls are not given the same chance as boys to go to school. Surely, any country that hopes to rise in our inter-dependent and vastly competitive world must educate its children - all of them - if it hopes to confront the challenges that face them.

The United States believes very strongly that education, not hard labor, is the path to a better life for every child. For this reason we continue to invest heavily in international programs to get children out of workrooms and into classrooms.

For example, last year, the U.S. raised its contributions to the ILO's International Program For the Elimination of Child Labor tenfold, from $3 million to $30 million a year. This same amount is committed for the next three years. Our IPEC funds support dozens of projects around the world. For example, thousands of children have already left the garment factories in Bangladesh and the soccer ball industry in Pakistan to attend school. Other IPEC programs are working to eliminate child prostitution in Thailand and trafficking and exploitation in Nepal.

We are also working on an innovative, new program called "School Works," that will add another $10 million to help developing nations provide educational alternatives to child labor.

The U.S. is also supporting programs to fight the spread of AIDS in several parts of Africa. Every day some 8,500 children are infected with this disease. And another 30,000 die from illness, neglect and assault. While we cannot address each case, our international immunization and medical programs prevent an estimated 4 million children from dying every year.

But war is the most vile destroyer of youth. UNICEF estimates two million young people have died in violent conflicts in the past decade, while another six million have been injured. The Special Rapporteur on Children and War has worked hard to highlight the impact of mass violence on the world's youth, and we commend his efforts on this issue.

We recognize that nothing can fully ease the pain that war has caused so many children. . The U.S. has designed a series of special programs, however, to help child soldiers in Angola, Liberia, Uganda and Sierra Leone. We are also working with young victims in countries like the Congo, Croatia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Lebanon, Vietnam and Kosovo.

Domestically, we have an active outreach program bringing U.S. businesses, NGOs and trade unions to together to fight against exploitative child labor. Our embassies monitor conditions throughout the world and ensure our policies and views are known. And in June, President Clinton signed an executive order directing all federal agencies to ban the purchase of good made by forced or indentured child labor.

On the other hand, not every child is a victim. Indeed, in country after country, young people are organizing themselves and defending their friends, their freedoms, and the cause of universal human rights. Theirs is the triumph of hope over hopelessness, commitment over cynicism, idealism over indifference.

One of the most compelling examples of children taking charge is in Colorado, where elementary school children have launched an effort to purchase the freedom of hundreds of children who have been held in bondage in Sudan. While the world still argues the best approach to this massive problem of human rights, these kids have taken action. Craig Kiehlburger has done the same thing from his home in Canada, focusing world attention on the sad consequences of abusive child labor.

Elsewhere, teenagers from the West Bank and Israel have come together through the Seeds of Peace program, serving as a model for reconciliation and cooperation there. In Zambia, thousands of children are teaching others about the dangers of AIDS, while in Thailand, young people are raising people's awareness of sexual trafficking and environmental degradation. And in Colombia, the Children's Mandate for Peace has launched a nationwide effort to support the human rights of minors, an effort that has won them two nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize.

The important message that lies in these examples is this: by addressing their communities' needs, youth learn that they can make a difference. They learn what it means to participate in a democracy, to form alliances around issues, and work for social change.

The U.N. General Assembly will hold a special session on the Follow-Up to the World Summit for Children in the fall of 2001 where progress in achieving the goals the Summit established ten years ago will be reviewed. We urge governments to use this special session to unleash the productive capacity inherent in young people everywhere, and support activities where the children and young people can serve their communities.

In our country, for example, thousands of young people have joined AmeriCorps and work in our inner cities or serve in the Peace Corps overseas.

We need these children, Mr. Chairman, every single one of them, in every single land. We need their hope, their heart, their energy, their brains. The Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labor and the two protocols on the Rights of the Child are important steps in right direction. But we must do more than simply set standards. We must ensure they are implemented, too. We must work closely with each other, for no nation gains when another's children loose.

The promise of youth belongs to every child. If ours is to be a new millennium, let it be one where every boy and girl is free from exploitation, when every child is free to dream, and dreams are free to flourish. And let it be a time when every nation embraces its duty to its children and the education of boys and girls alike. For only when children's human rights are fully honored, will this new millennium we dream about be truly here.

Thank you.

(end text)

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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