The UN Special Session on Children
A Personal View
by Vanessa Brooks, ICDDR,B

I attended the Special Session on Children from 8-10 May, at the UN in New York, representing the World Association of Former United Nations Interns and Fellows (WAFUNIF). Because of my work here in Bangladesh at ICDDR,B Centre for Health and Population Research, I focused on sessions on child health and survival and HIV/AIDS. The meeting itself has already been reported in the June 2002 issue of WOMUN, so I will focus on a more personal view.

For me, most impressive was the three-day Children’s Forum which preceded the Special Session, attended by youth representing 132 countries. The Forum’s message was the document entitled "A World Fit for Us". It reads, "We want a world fit for children, because a world fit for us is a world fit for everyone." The young people also met with Ms. Annan, who listened and engaged them in a dialogue on their special concerns. What was clear when listening to these very young people is that most do not feel empowered and that they voice similar concerns. These included the need for stronger families, availability of education and the need to be free from violence, whether the violence results from armed conflict in their countries, in their local communities or within their homes. And similar statements came from children of both the poorest and richest nations.

The second impressive element of the Special Session was the tremendous work conducted globally by NGOs. NGOs are well-organised, forward thinking in their programmes and they clearly have their fingers on the pulse of the populations they serve, whether they were urban schools in the United States or India, HIV clinics engaged in public-private sector partnerships in Romania or Uganda, or grassroots organizations combating the trafficking of young girls from Nepal into brothels in Mumbai. The NGOs effectively articulated ways in which they are addressing issues such as child labour, child and adolescent health and education in some of the world’s poorest and most severely affected populations.

Finally, I attended a UNICEF/WHO press conference on the introduction of a new and more effective Oral Rehydration Solution, developed here at ICDDR,B. Also exciting was the announcement by Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, Secretary General of WHO, about the 40th million child saved by ORS, an announcement that preceded ICDDR,B’s own special presentation in the UN Delegates Dining Room one week later to celebrate this important milestone. This was both of tremendous professional and personal satisfaction to see ICDDR,B highlighted in the UN’s global agenda that addresses health and survival strategies for the world’s most vulnerable group—children.