Princess Lalla Meryem stresses children's rights to dignity
Morocco, Culture, 6/12/2001

Morocco's Princess Lalla Meryem, chairwoman of the Moroccan observatory of children rights on Monday stressed children's right to live in dignity and the need to shield them against any discrimination.

In an address here Monday before the Preparatory Committee for the UN general assembly's special session on children, slated for next September, Princess Lalla Meryem reiterated Morocco's "conviction that children have the right to live their childhood with dignity and without discrimination," urging the international community "to face the tragic situation in which children live as a result of embargoes and armed conflicts, such as the situation of Palestinian and Iraqi children.

"Such situations constitute a continuous threat to children's basic rights to life and require appropriate solutions to put an end to this tragedy," she insisted.

She also called developing countries to jointly conduct "horizontal and accurate studies and research," in view of similarities between problems of children in these countries.

The princess, who is heading an official delegation comprising royal advisor, Zoulikha Nasri, and some cabinet members, told the New York meeting these studies and research are needed to "widen the vision and find solutions in the framework of regional coordination."

She went on that King Mohammed VI has decided that Morocco should contribute to the regional endeavor through the establishment of a scientific research and expertise mechanism that would be at the disposal of the concerned parties at the regional and international levels especially in Arab-African regions.

The princess also surveyed before government representatives efforts made by Morocco to improve children rights. She cited, in this regard, the king's initiative to craft a strategy to which actors of the civil society, governmental sector, children and human rights advocates were associated to implement substantial programs at the national, regional and continental levels.

She also recalled the numerous national and regional meetings held recently in Morocco, mainly the Arab Civil Society Forum, that was attended by more than 200 experts, the summit of African first ladies on African girls and the Arab-African finance ministers conference, organized in coordination with UNICEF and attended by economic experts, international financial organizations and NGOs.

United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette urged for a renewed political push to meet the needs of the world's young people, citing "real and significant" progress in a number of areas since the landmark 1990 World Summit for Children.

She went on child mortality rates were down, immunization levels were up, and more girls and boys were receiving an education than ever before.

"Clearly, children now have a much higher profile on the national and global political agendas," said Frechette, introducing We the Children, a report by the Secretary-General which reviews progress since the 1990 Summit. "Yet much more needs to be done." She noted that over 10 million children still die each year "often from preventable causes," while an estimated 150 million others suffer from malnutrition. Conflicts took the lives of approximately 2 million children over the past decade, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic has left more than 13 million orphans.

The General Assembly's special session on children "must aim at regenerating political will and commitment in order to address the remaining challenges and emerging issues affecting the well being of our children," Frechette told the final preparatory session, which opened on Monday and runs through Friday.

Calling for a "decisive shift" in national investments to favor the well being of children, the UN official said leaders attending the special session must exert the necessary political will to bring about that transformation.

"We have the knowledge, the resources and the strategies to act," she said. "It is no longer a question of what is possible, but of what is given priority, and there is no issue more important than the survival and harmonious development of our children."

Previous Stories:
  Princess Lalla Meryem heads to new york's preparatory committee on world child summit   (6/9/2001)
  Francophone association of visually-impaired persons born in Casablanca   (6/8/2001)
  King Mohammed meets Amnesty International delegation   (6/7/2001)

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