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Thank you Mr Chairman. As a sponsor of the resolution on the rights of the Child, my delegation would like to make a general statement on the resolution on behalf of Canada and New Zealand.
Mr Chairman, Canada and New Zealand are committed to the protection and promotion of the rights of the child. We are strong supporters of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, and the work of the UN Children’s Fund and the Special representative on children in armed conflict. We have also always been dedicated sponsors of the omnibus resolution on the rights of the child, and are amongst the staunchest defenders of a strong text.
Notwithstanding our strong support for this resolution, we have, for some years now, been concerned about the way we are approaching this issue. The text, contains some good language, but is too long, and much of it simply repeats existing treaty provisions that most of us are already bound by. Because of its length, it has become unwieldy and difficult to change. It has had the effect of stifling discussion of new issues.
For the first time this year, however, there have been some improvements to the text. We would like to thank the main sponsors for their efforts both to streamline the resolution to a more manageable length, and to introduce new issues. The results have been modest, but the result is a better text. We particularly welcome the new chapter in the resolution on children and HIV/AIDS. It is issues such as this, which are so devastating to the lives of children, that we ought to be focusing on rather than re-hashing old debates. We also welcome the indication that the subject matter of that chapter III will change from year to year to deal with new issues. This is a very positive development.
We continue to be concerned, however, at the erosion of support for the wider resolution. Not so long ago this was a text that was adopted by consensus. Over the last few years more and more parts of it have begun to be voted. This year we seem to have reached a nadir. We also regret that some delegations are attending the negotiations only to protect their positions on sensitive topics, and that others have simply stopped attending altogether. We regret that not all delegations can support the resolution’s references to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the need to end the use of the juvenile death penalty, the need to take measures to eliminate corporal punishment in schools, and on the importance of the role of the International Criminal Court in combating impunity.
We continue to strongly support those provisions, and we have no hesitation to defend them in a vote. But we do not see the need to put a resolution on children to a vote twice every year. If it were to be considered less often, the committee would be able to consider shorter and more focused resolutions. We urge the main sponsors to consider taking a new approach. As we have said before, we remain ready and willing to assist the sponsors in rethinking the way we address children’s rights in the General Assembly.
Thank you Mr Chairman
