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Home > UN Special Session on Children > Regional meetings The road to the Special Session: Regional meetingsSpecial Session on Children| Latin America and Caribbean | Africa | East Asia and Pacific | Europe and Central Asia | South Asia | Arab States At six regional meetings, governments presented reports on national commitments to their children. These reports outlined the progress these countries have made to date, and the challenges remaining. Participants in the reviews included intersectoral government bodies, parliamentarians, national and international NGOs and CSOs, religious groups, academic institutions, the media, United Nations agencies and donors. This helped ensure broad ownership of review findings and consensus on priorities for future action. Various efforts were also made to encourage participation by children, notably through children's and youth parliaments, forums and opinion polls. A number of countries extended the review to subnational levels through local surveys and consultations. In addition to providing details of those government meetings, this section also summarises some of the consultations amongst NGOs and civil society groups, and specialised meetings organised to ensure effective participation by under-18-year-olds in the Special Session process. This summary is far from exhaustive as hundreds of meetings took place around the world. For example, consultations with youth were also organised by the International Save the Children Alliance. A series of meeting (almost 20 in total) brought together youth in places that spanned the globe, including Pakistan, Panama, Lesotho, and Berlin. The outcomes of these meetings are available. Further many additional meetings by NGOs, civil society groups took place in the regions. National reviews gained additional visibility through linkages with high-level regional events. Some of the outcomes of those meetings are also available: • Africa • Asia • Central America & Caribbean • Europe • Middle East • North America • Oceania • South America In Latin America and the Caribbean, five ministerial meetings since the World Summit for Children have been held to assess achievements and constraints. The Lima Accord, adopted in 1998, helped accelerate progress, while the Kingston Consensus, adopted at the fifth meeting, in 2000, represents the regional contribution of the Americas at the special session. Significant commitments were also made at the Tenth Ibero-American Summit of Presidents and Heads of State on Children and Adolescents, held in 2000.
In Africa, the OAU Lomé Summit declaration entitled "Africa's children, Africa's future", issued in July 2000, encouraged Member States to articulate a visionary but feasible agenda for African children over the next decade, recognizing HIV/AIDS as a priority challenge and addressing other pressing issues. Follow-up meetings in 2001 involved a broad range of partners, including the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the Arab League and ECOWAS. A special Pan-African Forum was held in Cairo from May 28 to 31, 2001 to discuss the future of the African child and to build momentum for a dynamic movement for children across the continent. This alliance of Governments, civil society, young people, and a whole range of other constituencies and institutions was dedicated to advocacy and action on behalf of children, as part of the Global Movement for Children. As a result of this meeting 'The African Common Position', was finalised. It will be tabled before the UN General Assembly Special Session on Children in September 2001. NGOs at the Pan-Africa Forum issued an alternative text to the 'Africa Common Position'.
NGOs and youth in the region also met to consult prior to the Cairo meeting. The Eastern and Southern Africa NGOs/CSOs preparatory meeting brought together 36 participants from 15 countries on 18 April 2001. This included Kenya, Zimbabwe, Burundi, South Sudan, Tanzania, Malawi, Mauritius, Lesotho, Zambia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Rwanda, Swaziland, Uganda and Madagascar. The objectives of the meeting included consultations on the draft outcome of the Special Session on Children and identifying pertinent regional issues and the gaps in the Outcome Document. The ESAR NGOs/CSOs preparatory meeting was organized and facilitated by the preparatory committee, which consisted of PLAN International (Regional and Kenya Offices), Save the Children - Canada, World Vision Kenya, Kenya Alliance for Advancement of Children, Forum for African Women Educationalists and Action Aid. The consultation with youth took place in March 2000. Organised by the African Movement of Working Children and Youth. The Movement is supported by a large coalition of African NGO’s, Churches, and Civil Servants. Enda TM (Senegal), in cooperation with Save the Children Sweden, leads the regional program of support to this Movement. The meeting included (1) a debate and propositions on the participation of the African Movement of Working Children and Youth to the Special Session on Children, (2) commentaries from youth on the ten points of the Global Movement in favor of children, (3) and an amended version of the revised draft outcome document of Special Session on Children.
In East Asia and the Pacific, four ministerial consultations on children and development have been held since 1990, with the fifth to be held in Beijing in May 2001, to play a critical role in shaping the region's future agenda for children. An assessment of the state of implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) forms the basis for joint planning of regional actions by the ASEAN secretariat and UNICEF. Delegates from 21 countries attended the Fifth East Asia and Pacific Ministerial Consultation in Beijing, and adopted the Beijing Declaration on Commitments for Children in the East Africa and Pacific Region for 2001-2010
In Europe and Central Asia, a conference in May 2001 adopted the Berlin Commitment for Children of Europe and Central Asia. It outlines goals and focuses on further development of child-friendly policies in 51 countries across Europe and Central Asia over the next 10 years. The conference was the culmination of a series of consultations between governments, civil societies, NGOs, young people, UNICEF, other UN agencies, the EU, the Council of Europe, OSCE and other regional bodies, all dedicated to improving the lives of children. The Conference was hosted by the Foreign Ministries of Germany and Bosnia and Herzegovina with the support of UNICEF The 'Berlin Commitment' is a 20-point plan lists key undertakings to combat and address poverty and social exclusion, violence and abuse, the severe impact of transition in many countries, health and environmental questions, intergenerational justice, the state of education and the importance of ongoing participation of children and young people in decisions that affect their lives.
Young people from 25 countries from Europe and Central Asia met, from 23-29 April, 2001, in Budapest, Hungary. In all, the Young People's Consultation brought together 51 young people from the region. The outcome of the meeting was entitled Towards a Young People's Future Agenda: Budapest Message'. The outcome document was delivered at the Berlin Conference (16-18 May 2001), and the Special Session on Children
Civil society organisations and NGOs from Central and Eastern Europe, Commonwealth Independent and Baltic States met, from 8-11 April, in Bucharest. In total 14 delegates from civil society organisations working for children’s rights from 27 countries participated, including 15 youth. The conference was convened by the NGO UNICEF Committee for Children in the CEE/CIS and the Baltic States and the Federation of Non-Governmental Organisations Active in Child Protection (FONPC) of Romania, and was supported by UNICEF. A working group with representatives from the different sub-regions was created under the umbrella of the Committee to determine the basic structure for the Conference.
Government delegations from seven countries met in Kathmandu on May 22 and 23, 2001 for the South Asia High Level Meeting on Investing in Children. They issued the Kathmandu Understanding. This included government delegates from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, as well as corporate leaders and young activists (referred to as 'Change Makers').
This meeting was preceded by consultations between Change Makers and corporate leaders from May 19 to 21 May. Jointly initiated by the UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia and the International Save the Children Alliance South Asia the aim to prepare the children for the workshop with key decision makers; encourage them to see the micro-macro economic linkages, taxation, budgets and their impacts on public expenditure, especially for children and enable them to advocate their issues with Corporate Leaders and national planners.
In July 2001, a symposium in Islamabad was expected to examine achievements and promote sustained action on the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Decade Plan of Action for the Girl Child. In preparation for the region's participation in the upcoming Special Session on Children, the League of Arab States invited members in June 2000 to undertake national reviews of the situation of children and to participate in preparations for the special session. The Arab High Level Conference on the Rights of the Child took place from July 1 to 4, 2001 in Cairo and concluded with the adoption of a draft declaration and framework for action on the rights of children for the period 2001-2010. This is called 'An Arab World Fit for Children: Mechanisms for Joint Arab Action and an Arab Common Position'. The meeting brought together some 150 delegates from all 22 member countries of the League of Arab States at the League's headquarters. The delegations, mostly led by ministers, also included civil society representatives, experts, and 33 young people, who convened separately to prepare for the meeting.
NGOs and civil society groups met in Morocco, from February 15 to 19, to organise the Arab Regional Civil Society Forum on Children. The meeting brought together more than 200 participants from 21 Countries and 10 regional and international organisations. The meeting resulted in the The Rabat Declaration and Recommendations concerning ways to improve the situation of children in the Arab Region. This declaration included a commitment to calling for the cessation of wars, armed conflicts and occupation and the alleviation the detrimental effects of these hardships on victimized children in Palestine, Iraq, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, the Occupied Golan Heights, and other places. The meeting was organized by UNICEF Middle East and North Africa Regional Office, the Arab Council for Childhood and Development, the Arab Institute for Human Rights, and L'Observatoire National Des Droits de L'Entfant.
Youth met in Amman from October 29 to November 1, 2000. The Regional Youth Forum brought together more than 120 people from 16 different countries and marked an historical milestone in designing and promoting the future agenda of young people in the Middle East and North Africa region. The meeting was organised by UNICEF's Middle East and North Africa Regional Office with support from the UNICEF offices in Jordan, West Bank and Gaza, and the Princess Basma Women's Resource Centre in Amman. Out of these discussions the participants prepared a "Call for Action" on youth issues in the region.
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