Geof BrownAS YOU read this, high level representatives of some 37 countries are meeting at the Jamaica Conference Centre. The agenda is about children. The countries represent our hemisphere - the Americas with special emphasis on Latin America and the Caribbean. The conference is the "5th Ministerial Meeting on Children and Social Policy in the Americas". It is the last in a series of ministerial meetings leading to a special session of the General Assembly of the United Nations which will be held in September 2001.
Ten years ago in 1990, there was a World Summit for Children when the heads of most countries of the world met under the auspices of the United Nations. A number of goals were set then. This 5th Ministerial Meeting which sees the countries of the Caribbean hosting delegates from 37 countries as well as representatives of bilateral and multi-lateral agencies, is reviewing progress on the goals established in 1990. The world has to come to realise the obvious: the foundation for nation-building and prosperity lies in the care, protection, and development of our children. They therefore belong at the top of the agenda.
Thus this 5th Ministerial Meeting is truly historic. The visions of the World Summit of 1990, translated into goals, have led to much progress since then in areas of health, education and nutrition. But during the decade, many other areas of child (as well as family) rights have emerged on the agenda. As noted by Per Engebak, UNICEF Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean in his opening address to the conference, these include the spread of HIV/AIDS, child and adolescent labour, sexual exploitation of children, use of children in armed conflicts, racial and ethnic discrimination and abuse and violence in the family.
These areas of focus of the '90s now demand a new set of goals which will have to be recognised and declared at the September 2001 World Summit. The technical meetings of the Jamaica-based ministerial conference have examined problems and progress from Monday 9th to Wednesday 11th; from yesterday and including today the ministers have joined the conference to complete a political consensus. The document emerging from the whole process, the "Kingston Consensus", will be presented to the Secretary General of the United Nations by the Prime Minister of Jamaica on behalf of the Latin American and Caribbean nations gathered here.
Clearly the process is leading to a new day for children advancing to the top of the development agenda. The workshop topics reveal the comprehensive approach to the review and goal-setting exercise. They include Child Protection/Child Rights, Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health/Maternal Mortality, Health-Nutrition and Development in the Context of Social Policies, Education, Resources for Children, Child and Youth Participation. Under these main areas of focus some sixteen sub-topics have formed part of the review.
But what is it really all about? Simply, but not as a simple matter, the investment in children, their welfare and development, has a pay-off in prosperity and justice which is now attested not only by common sense but by sound scientific studies. Let's look at examples from our own region. Costa Rica during the last 40 years has spent proportionately more on health care and education than any other country in the world.
What are the results? Although the country still has a relatively low per capita income, between 1970 and 1990 child malnutrition was reduced by two-thirds, illiteracy was cut in half, infant mortality declined by three-fourths. And the poverty rate fell from 50 per cent in 1960 to 20 per cent in 1990. Since then Costa Rica has met the vast majority of the goals set by the World Summit of 1990. And in it we see an example of a nation where peace and justice reign.
In Cuba, where doctors are required to serve in rural health services to make basic health services available to all the children under 5 years, mortality rate has fallen from 54 per 1000 in 1960 to 8 per 1000 in 1998. And in Cuba the Early Childhood Care for Survival Growth and Development (ECCSGD) covers 99 per cent of the population between 0 and 6 years old. In Mexico, successful immunisation and rehydration programmes have cut child death rates for pneumonia and diarrhoea in half during the last 30 years; school enrolment has risen to above 90 per cent and the government has done an aggressive outreach to help street children.
What these examples tell us, is that moving children to the top of the agenda has clear returns for the investment. And what is even more significant, is that children themselves are entering the dialogue and contributing their own perspectives to formulating their concerns, problems and solutions. At this 5th Ministerial conference over 100 children have been involved. They have had their own workshops and contributed views and recommendations which have left many of the adult delegates in awe.
Encouraging as many developments region-wide have been, stark challenges remain. In Latin America and the Caribbean as a whole, more than 4 out of 10 children live on less than $2 per day and the overall ranks of the income-poor increased slightly during the 1990's. Against that reality we can set progress in health indicators. Infant mortality throughout the region dropped from an average of 41 per 1000 live births in 1990 to 37 on average in 1998. Average under 5 mortality fell from 51 per 1000 in 1990 to 39 per 1000 in 1998. And polio has been eliminated in this region.
In short, we have the problems but we have some progress. The words of the UNICEF Regional Director sum up well:
"These are not all new issues. Perhaps we lacked the courage to confront them in 1990. We cannot be weak now and fail to confront them in the 2000's".
Footnote: The flip-flops in logistics which annoyed some delegates and visitors could perhaps have been avoided by broader involvement of our talented resources. Nevertheless tribute to Ambassador Marjorie Taylor and team for a major undertaking.
