THE IPU AND UNICEF PRESENT A CHILD PROTECTION HANDBOOK
During the course of the 110th IPU Assembly, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and UNICEF gave a presentation of a handbook for parliamentarians on "Child Protection" attended by the IPU President, the Chilean Senator, Sergio Páez, and the United States actress, Jessica Lange, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, and the President of the IPU's 110th Assembly, the Mexican Senator, Enrique Jackson.
Guaranteeing children's rights, and in particular safeguarding them, demands a global movement in which everyone not only understand and honour their duties towards children, but also act consequentially. "Parliaments and MPs can and must be champions of child protection. They can enact laws, scrutinise government activities, allocate financial resources and, as the leaders of their nations and communities, sensitise and inform the public, and defend these rights," said the IPU President, Sergio Páez.
"In the countries which you represent there are altogether some 40 million children under the age of 15 who are victims of abuse and negligence, and are in need of healthcare and welfare services. Some 1.2 million children are having to work, and 180 million are suffering from the worst forms of exploitation in armed conflicts in over 30 countries. More than 20 million children are estimated to have died as a direct result of armed conflict in the Nineties alone,", emphasised the United States actress, Jessica Lange, UNICEF's Goodwill Ambassador.
In the words of the Speaker of the Mexican Senate, Enrique Jackson, who is presiding over the 110th IPU Assembly, this handbook, "is especially important and relevant, because it sends out a clarion call to the world's parliamentarians to plan, adopt and take robust parliamentary action for the protection of children".
This IPU-UNICEF handbook examines various aspects of child protection, the most salient being the right to identity and birth registration, the protection of children in armed conflict and from sexual exploitation, trafficking and sale of children, harmful traditional practices, the right to alternative care, juvenile justice, child labour, violence and neglect, and the rights of child victims.
As the IPU Secretary General, Anders B. Johnsson, indicated, the handbook also explains how "parliaments and MPs can find out what they can do, and how to obtain all the resources and information they need to act. We think that this handbook is, and will become, a powerful tool for action."
|
Established in 1889 and with its Headquarters in Geneva, the IPU, the oldest multilateral organisation, currently has 140 affiliated national parliaments and five regional assemblies as associate members. The organisation of the world's parliaments also has an office as Permanent Observer with the United Nations in New York.
|
 Other press releases |
More information |
|
