A/34/PV.38 General Assembly

(interpretation from French): Many of the items on our agenda have to do with our failures and differences. The item we are now considering, however, reflects a common hope: the children of the entire world. Furthermore, it is a pleasure to celebrate the child - it is a celebration of the freshness of innocence and the optimism of the future. 2" .The idea of an International Year of the Child ongm~ted in a nO';1-gov~rnmental organization, the In- ternational Catholic Child Bureau, with headquarters at Geneva. I should like here to pay a public tribute to one of my countrymen, Canon Moerman, who has been.that organization's secretary-general for some twelve years and who promoted the idea within his organization. He IS now the Chairman of the Non-Governmental Or- ganizations Committee for the International Year of tne Child. No one could have hoped that this Year would be entered into with such enthusiasm or that it would enjoy such widespread support. 3. ~ should like at the outset to say a few words about Belgium. We have not, of course, waited until 1979 before attempt~ng to improve the condition of young people. In B~lgIUm, children have long beena privileged class of society. The budget for national education represents approximately 20 per cent of the total State ~udget. The child. receives free education and is prac- tically assured of It through secondary schooling, and even beyond. 4. I shall mention only a few of the measures currently under examination or being implemented that illustrate the continual progress being made to improve the condi- tion of children. 14. In recent days, international attention has been focused on the children of the refugees, particularly those of Cambodia and Viet Nam. Can there be a more unhappy or unjust fate than to be a child, deprived of everything, compelled to cross the seas and highways of the world in search of a home. 803 A/34/PV.38 5. In. the area of education, there are plans to make schooling mandatory from 5 years of age instead of 6 and to extend it from 14 to 16. In addition, the decisio~ has been made to adapt education so as to provide equal professional opportunities to both girls and boys. NEW YORK 6: In the legal sphere, at~ention is at present being given to legal problems relating to the child's family life SUCh. as adoption, relat.i<?nship and dependency, and i~ particular the recognition of natural or adulterine children. 7. I should also like to mention a new and original m~asure that entail~ child~en under three years of age bem~, cared. for during their parents' working hours by families which receive payment for providing such care. 8. Finally, our Ministry of Public Health has just ~ade available to parents and socio-cultural organiza- tions bulletins containing basic advice with regard to the education of children. 9. The enthusiasm created by the International Year of the Child has, by and large, led to a new sense of ~warenessand.action in Belgium. The primacy of family hfe has, happily, been brought once again to the fore. The family seems t.o be gradually returning to its place at the centre of society, but in a new guise, one in which b.o~~ .the fa!her an~ t~e mother have equal respon- ~lblhtIes. Child upbringing by only one parent IS mcreas- ingly being felt to be insufficient. 10.. These few examples demonstrate the extent to Which our problems are somewhat marginal and are those of a privileged society. Certainly they art real problems that require solution, for must not the prob- lem of even one single child be solved? II. In any case, w~atever th~ type or level of a society, new problems continually arise, and the International Year of the Child has inspired us in Belgium with a new determination to solve them. 12. But it is for other reasons that our concerns for th~ child .will not end on 31 December of this year. The universality of the theme has created an international impetus tbat has (j~~wn u: all closer together that has consolidated the problems and that has als~ brought closer together the children of the world. 13. Everyone, both children and adults, has been made aware by the International Year of the Child of the immea~urable problems of children in the develop- ing countries. When we realize that the world contains from 600 million to 800 million human beings who live m utter poverty, how many of the children among such numbers are ~ -prived of joy, play and beauty ber~dst. they know nothing but famine and disease? It is to these millio~s.ui children-and how many are they, perhaps 200 mI1lIon?-that the International Year of the Child has begun to ,:,ffer a minimum of existence. 16. Belgium is assuming its share of responsibility and is determined to continue and to increase its activities with regard to the world's disinherited children, either by making special efforts in the area of education, by the unrestricted admission of refugee children and the children of migrant labourers within the framework of a policy to reunite families, or by supporting concrete projects to benefit the children of the third world. 17. Here, I should like to pay a special tribute to the activities of UNICEF, which have been especially inten- sive this year. We would encourage UNICEF to arouse the interest of Governments in the needs of children in developing countries. 18. It is also up to other organizations and bodies within the United Nations system to evaluate the impact of the Year on their work, in order that the Interna- tional Year of the Child may not be without results nor merely come to an end. In this connexion, we feel it is equally important that we examine the feasibility of drawing up legal instruments that would better ensure protection for the child and that would contribute to giving true content to the Declaration on the Rights of the Child adopted 20 years ago [resolution 1386 (XIV)]. 19. I should like to conclude with a quotation from His Majesty King Baudoin's speech on the inauguration of the International Year of the Child: "However serious our economic situation, it ap- pears prosperous in comparison with the poverty from whichvast regions are suffering. We cannot use the alibi of our own difficulties to relax our efforts, modest though they are- to co-operate with such regions."

Having proclaimed 1979 as the International Year of the Child, the Assembly last year took the wise decision to consider the present item in its plenary meetings [resolution 33/83], thereby giv- ing great importance to this subject so dear to the hearts of all, to whatever social, political and economic system we belong.and whatever beliefs we embrace. Every child is the embodiment of hope and a symbol of faith in the future of humanity. The International Year of the Child brings home to use the irrefutable truth that the prob- lems of children transcend all boundaries, geographical and ideological. 21. In response to the United Nations appeal, we in Nepal, along with many other Member States, have observed the International Year of the Child with great enthusiasm and through various programmes made possible by our modest means. The Nepal National Committee for the International Year of the Child, under the patronage of Her Majesty Queen Mother Rat- na and the cl-airmanship of Her Royal Highness Princess Sharada, and made up of people from all walks of national life, has been actively engaged in drawing up and co-ordinating programmes and expediting their im- plementation with a view to ameliorating the lot of children in Nepal. Royal support has always provided 23. The National Committee has organized a number of seminars and workshops during this important Year. As a result of a national seminar on legal protection for the child in Nepal, the Ministry of Law and Justice is currently engaged in producing draft legislation, the enactment of which will safeguard the rights of the child in my country. 24. The international community knows full well that Nepal is a small, land-locked country, one of the least developed, that is struggling hard to cope with the challenges of development. 25. In the absence of an improved infrastructure, we have found it difficult to expand our social services. Nevertheless, our sixth national five-year plan envisages a reasonable percentage of the financial commmitment as being devoted to the social service sector. Progress, however inadequate, has been made in providing some basic services for children in Nepal. For instance, following a royal proclamation making primary educa- tion free, free textbooks have been made available to all children in primary school. A substantial increase in the enrolment of children in primary schools is anticipated. Despite vigorous efforts to bring about improvement in other areas such as health, nutrition and clean drinking water, our progress has not been satisfactory as we are constrained by limited resources and lack of trained manpower. 26. It is commonly said that the well-being of a society is measured by the degree and volume of basic services provided for children. There is little doubt that the lov- ing care and attention with which we bring up children will shape their careers as the responsible citizens of tomorrow. But the world in which we live today is characterized by so much disparity between the rich and the poor that millions of children are deprived of the basic necessities of life. According to a World Bank report, more than 600 million people live in a state of absolute poverty. Many developing countries, despite their strong inclination to make tangible progress in meeting the urgent needs of children, cannot afford to do so because of severe financial and material con- straints. 27. Increased international assistance is, therefore, urgently needed to meet the basic needs of children. We urge donor countries to increase their aid programmes through bilateral and multilateral channels. The Inter- national Year of the Child provides, in our view, a " . . . should provide an impetus to be followed by a rising level of resources for services benefiting children, through the United Nations Children's Fund and other channels, in order to enable develop- ing countries to extend, strengthen and implement their programmes for children", 28. While the importance of increased financial assistance cannot be denied, greater understanding among countries is an essential pre-condition for effec- tive international co-operation. In this context, it may be pertinent to refer to the national paper submitted by Nepal in which we have proposed the launching of an International Child-to-Child Programme, within the In- ternational Year of the Child, which could be a means of creating a better understanding of the child problems with which developing countries are faced. The Year came, indeed, as a challenge to the international com- munity. 29. Admittedly, the impact of the International Year of the Child in arousing public awareness of the needs of children has been tremendous. We, therefore, fully share the view that the momentum generated by the Year should be kept up beyond 1979. Mrs. Aldaba-Lim, the Special Representative for the United Nations Inter- national Year of the Child-who deserves a special word of praise for her dynamism, imagination and understanding--outlined recently at the summer session of the Economic and Social Council I an eight-point ac- tion programme in which she recommends to Govern- ments the initiation of integrated, multisectoral action in a number of key areas such as the elimination or reduction of child malnutrition, the reduction of infant mortality, ensuring the access of. all children and their families to clean and safe water supplies and adequate sanitation, improvements'in the literacy rate and measures to protect children from conditions of cruelty and neglect. We hope that all Governments will give careful consideration to this reasonable action pro- gramme. 30. My delegation takes this opportunity to express its deep appreciation to UNICEF, which has creditably discharged its responsibilities as lead agency for the In- ternational Year of the Child and has substantially con- tributed to improving the quality of life for children throughout the world. Our view of the "basic services" concept put forward by UNICEF is a positive one. UNICEF, in trying to meet the rapidly increasing needs of children in developing countries, has set the revenue target of $290 million for 1981. We appeal to all Governments to make generous contributions so that this modest target may be reached. 31. Finally t it has been rightly said that discrimination against children in South Africa on the grounds of race is a challenge to the conscience of humanity. It is com- monly known that the black children of South Africa, who live under conditions of extreme poverty and star- vation, have been and are being subjected to brutal

The next speaker is the First Lady of the Republic of Venezuela and Special Representative of the President of the Republic of Venezuela, Her Excellency Mrs. Beatriz Urdaneta de Herrera Campins, on whom I call.

On behalf of Venezuela and in my capacity as President of the Na- tional Organizing Commission for the International Year of the Child, I warmly greet this Assembly, the world's forum for dealing with the major problems of mankind. 34. I bring a message of hope, of optimism, trans- lating the feelings and the needs of the children of my country. These do not differ greatly, of course, from the feelings and the needs of children throughout Latin America, and of millions of children in other con- tinents. 35. Venezuela joyfully welcomed the successful in- itiative which made 1979 the International Year of the Child, 1979 being the twentieth anniversary of the unanimous adoption by the General Assembly of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. We have had enough time since then to assess how these rights have been applied in practice after having been introduced in- to the Constitutions and special laws of almost all coun- tries. 36. That Declaration was designed to ensure similar rights for all children without any kind of discrimina- tion or exception. However, the real need to give effect to them underlies our expectations and personal, family and social needs. 37. The International Year of the Child represents an unprecedented effort to act in consonance with the re- quirements of childhood, whose complex social and economic, environmental, ethical and cultural problems call urgently for attention in the search for possible solutions in keeping with national circumstances and for the investment of various human and material resources designed to attain the best results. 38. These problems call for guidance, planning, pro- gramming, co-ordination, performance, implementa- tion and control of specific action at every level and on the world scale, if we are to give the rights of children a proper place in the world of today. 39. Latin America has a high growth rate: it doubles the number of its inhabitants every 25 years. My coun- try, Venezuela, exceeds the average of population growth and doubles its population in 20 years. It is therefore a country with a very large number of young people-4S per cent under 1S years of age and 70 per cent under 30 years of age. Urban growth is also rapid, which means that 7S per cent of the population is urban 40. Thousands of children in Latin America are still suffering from the consequences of under-development, despite governmental efforts made in recent years which have produced improvements in health indicators. Seventy per cent of diseases and deaths in children under five years of age are caused by malnutrition and infection, factors related to the social, economic and cultural situation of their families, the insufficiency of environmental health measures, a lack of health and nutritional education, a lack of proper protection through vaccination and inappropriate housing. Even in our countries there are children who do not go to school. The percentage of school drop-outs is high, and the results poor. Importance is now being given to the pre-school years, Illiteracy is a regrettable reality for very many people. Thousands of children are starting work too early and very often they are exploited and ill- treated. 41. Moreover, there are families who live outside the mainstream of social life and children are abandoned. In my country, Venezuela, democratic governments have carried through important programmes for health, food and education. Those governments have under- stood that we cannot separate attention to social matters from attention to economic affairs and that both are essential if we want to attain integral development which would mean that man became both the agent and the aim of development. This would be translated into an improvement of the level of living and of the quality of life throughout the population. 42. The present Government, led by my husband, Luis Herrera Campins, is further stressing the need to inten- sify social development through concern for every aspect of man, material, moral and spiritual. For this reason, education is the main concern, the first priority, because we want to guarantee equality of opportunity and to make education really democratic and accessible to all in order to improve the quality and the yield at every level of the process, beginning with the pre-school years. An attempt is being made to incorporate the media of social communication, particularly radio and television, into education and culture. My husband, the President, has said that: "Bducation is the real way to achieve social equality, human progress, improvement for the whole community and collective advancement". 43. Throughout this year initiatives of great interest and of great variety have been taken, which have laid the foundation for future action, which must transform the initial impetus into a constant upward movement so as to ensure the full attainment of the aims we have set for ourselves. The rights of the child have been more highly publicized so that adults and those responsible in society should always be aware of the magnitude of their commitment. The world of the child begins to take shape in its first years; therefore, we must be aware of the very great importance for the men and women of tomorrow of difficulties which have not been overcome and needs which have not been satisfied. 44. In the programme the Government is currently carrying out in Venezuela importance is given to the ad- vancement of the individual from childhood not as an entity isolated from the family group which gave it life, 45. In our social situation in Venezuela, the mother- child relationship is inseparable from, and has to be considered within, the .broader context of the family, the community, the country, the continent and the world, because of the existing interrelationship between all the social nuclei and among all the peoples of the world, who have to work together and go forward in human solidarity. 46. Given the criterion that the problems of children cannot be considered apart from the family situation and the community in which they live, any policy designed to deal with them must be placed in the context of integral development which every country is trying to reflect in national development plans. 47. Side by side with the public sector, we have to in- corporate and give impetus to private initiative so as to combine all efforts, co-ordinate action and attain the best possible yield from available economic, technical and human resources. 48. Outside the traditional lines of action of the State with reference to children, I wish to speak in particular of the effort made in this International Year of the Child to tackle the following problems. The protection of the child, socially and legally speaking, will be pro- moted through the law on the protection of minors which is at present being discussed in the Congress of the Republic. Offices for the identification and civil registration of births are to be created where more than 20 children are born per day and by 1980 these will be extended throughout the country. Attention given to children from birth to six years will be increased, since there are 3 million children in this age group belonging to sectors with very limited economic resources. Forty pre-school establishments will be set up to deal with more than 30,000 children and for the training of 750 professionals for pre-school education. School in- surance, paid for by the State, will be taken out for pre- school and primary children in public schools, which will benefit 1,738,000 students. Economic support and official encouragement will be given for the extension and improvement of public and private kindergartens and for the establishment of centres for mother and child. We shall extend the services to direct and establish special education for children with physical, mental and environmental handicaps, and we shall support private initiatives in this field. "Hospital schools" will be created to incorporate sick children into the educational system. We shall reformulate and extend the cover of systems of pre-natal care, obstetric care and child vac- cination, covering 1.200.000 children aged between 9 and 35 months, as well as systems of food supplements, supported by a nutritional education campaign to achieve the aim of reducing mortality among mothers, to help pregnant mothers and to reduce the mortality especially of children between the ages of 1 and 4 years. Mother and child-care centres are being transformed in- to health-care centres, A campaign is under way to help mothers realize the importance of proper diet during pregnancy, nursing and early stages of the child's life. We have a programme entitled "Training grounds and the extension of sports schools" which encourages 100,000 children to participate in sports. At the national 49. I wish to make a brief reference to some of our programmes which have been put forward by the Children's Feundation during this Year. I speak in my capacity as wife of the President of the Republic because it was my responsibility directly and immediate- ly to preside over and direct a programme of culture and children's tourism to initiate children in the historical and geographical knowledge of their cities, their region and their country. It was also my task to introduce them to the attractive world of culture. Furthermore, visits were planned to established industries, particularly those producing manufactured goods which are con- stantly used by children, so that they should realize the technology that exists and the effort being made by working people to produce what the population uses. The children's air ambulance service which carries sick children free of charge in cases of emergency is another project associated with the International Year of the Child. Another activity is the international vacations plan so that children with little money but with good marks at school can visit other countries. Those coun- tries also send to Venezuela groups of children to whom we offer a warm welcome, thus strengthening our pres- ent and future friendship with peoples. Yet another ac- tivity is the "culture camps" the purpose of which is to bring culture to children in rural areas during their school holidays. At these camps the children are also given recreation and entertainment. We also have the "children's house", designed for children between 7 and 14 who come from the poorer areas. These houses pro- vide children with a safe place for recreation and culture during their spare time from school. We also have per- manent holiday camps in various parts of the country and a chain of day-care centres or kindergartens which work with resources made available from a special fund created at the prompting of the Government by the tobacco producers and the cigar and cigarette in- dustries. 50. Finally, I should like to mention the Children's In- stitute, which social security provides for children up to the age of 12 who come from low-income families or live on the brink of poverty. 51. This social initiative is based on a private founda- tion which was established and is directed by me, with 52. I mention all these activities without any desire to hold Venezuela up as a model. I simply offer these as ex- periences which we are carrying through in my country. I believe that the exchange of knowledge in this area can be of practical use for everyone. These activities must be carried out hand in hand with a receptive attitude on the part of the social means of communication because it is essential that we should communicate the essence and content of our policies for children. They are then based on popular participation, which presupposes and calls for a public that is organized and wellinformed. For the latter we must have opinion polls and programmes to guide people and publicize our ideas, together with publications which give them full coverage. 53. The struggle for well-being and happiness among children is one and the same thing as the struggle for a better society and the more equitable distribution of goods and services. 54. Let us struggle to enable all families to meet the basic needs of their children and provide them with material, social, spiritual and moral necessities, and above all, with the most important need of mankind, af- fection and love. This is esseanal to children if they are to have a sense of security about life. It is also essential between people if we want a society that is more noble, generous and united. We must have more "social love", to use the beautiful expression of His Holiness Pope John Paul II. 55. Tomorrow will depend on what we do today. Our countries have populations consisting mostly of young people. The technological society calls for a better educated and better trained human being. Therefore, let us educate our children with feelings of social concern, human solidarity and love for people and nature in a spirit of peace and hope, with a feeling of progress and spiritual value 56. Only in this way can we have a society in which all children will feel safe and in which they can smile, con- fidently enjoying well-being so that they can prepare to tak cheir place in the future that awaits them. 57. The International Year of the Child does not end in December; it willscarcely have begun then. In its fun- damental objective, the International Year of the Child is a means by which the inhabitants of countries, regions and continents can concentrate on children as bio- logical, psychological and sociological beings needing special priority care to ensure a better quality of society tomorrow. 58. The future of children cannot be regarded in isola- tion. It is bound up with events in the world. Therefore 59. Let us fight so that this society will be one of well- being, prosperity, and dignity and one in which human rights are fully respected by all. Let us fight for a society in which an abundance of goods, options, justice, liber- ty, peace and happiness can be attained, illuminated by love in the smiles of children.

It gives me pleasure, on this occasion, to convey to the Assembly the greetings and esteem of the First Lady of Egypt and Head of the International Rela- tions Committee for the International Year of the Child, Mrs. Jehan EI-Sadat. I am honoured to deliver this statement on her behalf. 61. No one can deny man's right to a dignified life for we all have that inalienable right. The children of today, who are the adults of tomorrow, are the members of society most entitled to care and to that dignified life. The world of tomorrow, which belongs to the children of today, merits our attention and our efforts to find appropriate ways and means of achieving effective development with a view to meeting the needs of our children. 62. Responding to the needs of children is a priority issue. Programmes for children should be an integral part of both long and short-term social and economic development plans at the national and international levels. 63. The special problems confronting our children to- day, such as health, education and development, cannot be viewed in isolation from the social and economic en- vironment in which our children live. That is why the improvement and development of that environment is an essential prerequisite for the improvement of services to children and for meeting the needs of the child. 64. Moreover, those whose responsibility it will be to shape and build the future deserve special care as they develop. They must therefore be protected from harm and effective programmes must be devised in order to meet their needs in the areas of health, food and educa- tion. 65. The achievement of these objectives is an interna- tional undertaking shared equally by both the developed and developing countries. 66. Egypt is very much aware of children's problems and is convinced of the need for an over-all solution to them. Responding to the General Assembly resolution proclaiming 1979as the International Year of the Child [resolution 33183], the Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt has taken the following domestic measures. 67. First, a Supreme Council for the Child, presided over by the President of the Republic, has been established. Other committees have also been set up, among them the International Relations Committee for 69. Thirdly, the national programme of the Arab Republic of Egypt established on the occasion of the In- ternational Year of the Child incorporates long and short-term projects consisting of the following. First, there are short-term programmes, consisting of seminars, lectures and study groups at the national level dealing with specialized subjects concerning children; the launching of wide-spread fund collection cam- paigns; and the issuing of stamps and coins to com- memorate the event. Secondly, there are long-term pro- grammes; such as reviewing the current child laws and legislation with a view to adapting them to the provi- sions of the Declaration on the Rights of the Child; reviewing the services rendered to children with a view to improving their quality and extending them as widely as 'Possible; increasing the budget for services to children; and establishing a national children's institute responsible for research, training and statistics. Thirdly, at the public information level, the following tasks have been set: defining the over-all objective of information media, which is to awaken a sense of awareness of the problems of children as an integral part of economic and social development issues; reviewing the current programmes for children in the light of the goals set by the International Year of the Child; articulating the benefits to be secured from programmes for the masses by informing them of the problems of children. Fourth- ly, in the area of education and culture there are plans for reviewing the educational needs of children and allocating the funds required; increasing the number of institutions for handicapped children; increasing the number of publications for children, including books; and organizing exhibitions of children's works. Fifthly, in the area of health, action will be taken to broaden understanding of the importance of preventive action against disease and to develop and expand the children's food industry. Sixthly, in the area of social affairs ac- tion will be taken to publicize nurseries; attention will be given to training programmes for staff specializing in family and child care; national associations concerned with children will be promoted through participation in the celebration of the International Year of the Child and the contribution they make to the national pro- gramme, particularly in raising the level of the masses. 70. The above is a brief outline of the measures taken by the Egyptian Government for the benefit of the future adult. Our commitment to the development of the child and to ensuring his happiness will continue through an effective and fruitful policy in co-operation with all the peoples of the world in order to achieve peace, freedom and prosperity for the young shoots of today and the adults of the future. 71. In concluding, I should like to take this opportuni- ty to congratulate the United Nations on its activities in this field and to convey my thanks, in particular, to Mrs. Estefania Aldaba-Lim, the Special Representative of the International Year of the Child, for her commen- dable efforts to make the Year a success. 73. In other words, the lesson to be learned from the item we are examining today is that we must broaden our awareness of the immensity of our responsibility to build the world of tomorrow, which, despite everything, is taking form and crystallizing in our hands and not in the hands of those to whom it really belongs. That is the unfortunate historical contradiction with which we are faced but about which we can do nothing because we are not bringing up our children in accordance with our logic, but imposing on them a world that they have not made. 74. Thus, we hope that the International Year of the Child, which began on 1 January 1979, will not end on 31 December 1979. For, while the above-mentioned General Assembly resolution did in effect limit the aim of the Year to the development and the promotion of programmes for children, linked to the presence of economic and social development, on the other hand, we think that all the international political, economic and military problems that threaten international peace and security at the present time are closely, indeed directly, related to the action to shape the world of tomorrow that we shall be bequeathing to our children of ioday. That is why we believe that if we are to fulfil our task, there must be parallel action in the national and the international fields. 7S. At the national level, social-service programmes must be drawn up and put into effect to ensure that the child is brought up in a healthy atmosphere, in which his requirements for education, medical care, moral and nutritional needs will be met. At the international level, action must be taken which will affect the picture of the world of tomorrow. 76. To prove this dialectical relationship between the facts of the present world and the picture of the future world, one need only cite some statistics, which are self- explanatory. At a time when the world is spending more than $1 billion daily for the development, production and acquisition of weapons, more than SOO million children in the developing countries suffer from malnutrition and a lack of adequate medical care. There are 200 million illiterate children who have absolutely no opportunity for education. Poor families, from among 600 million persons, live in conditions of hunger and want in the developing countries and have to de- pend on the labour of their children under 12 years of age to acquire the bare necessities for survival. The very great disparity between the children in the industrialized 77. Despite-1he complex and difficult circumstances under which the least developed countries are attemp- ting to put their develnpment plans into effect, their ef- forts have produced en~uragingresults. The child mor- tality rate in some of those countries has decreased from 144 deaths per thousand in 1960 to 122 deaths today, while the life expectancy rate in many of the developina countries, which was 36 years in the 19605, has increased to almost 44 years today. At the same time, the number of persons able to read and write has almost doubled. These results, which are but a few examples, dem- onstrate that the developing countries are determined to throw off the yoke of long years of backwardness im- posed on them by colonialism, no matter what problems and difficulties they may have to confront. 78. The Government of Qatar, in connexion with the International Year of the Child, has put mto effect a comprehensive programme to establish 178 kinder- gartens and child-care centres,a programme for the rehabilitation ofthe not-too-severely handicapped and a programme for gifted children. It has also drawn up plans for the establishment of a cultural club and a library. 79. The Ministry of Public Health established a special office for health education, whose task is to supervise the health and nourishment of mothers and children. It has also laid down certain criteria on feeding, adapted to local conditions, it has opened a central food-stuffs laboratory and it is carrying out anover-all basic health programme to meet Qatar's health needs. The pro- gramme calls for the establishment of a health register, a registration system and 12 additional health centres as well as the promulgation of a law for juvenile delin- quents. The law provides for their rehabilitation, re- education and for the adoption of orphans and waifs. The Ministry is also building three parks for children. 80. In addition to social activities, the Government of Qatar has not disregarded development of the creative talents of the child. It has arranged a series of exhibi- tions of children's books, and has published books, magazines and films for children. Television stations in" Qatar also ran a series of programmes on the education and upbringing of children, which were produced by the Ministry of Information of the United Arab Emirates in co-operation with UNICEF. The University of Qatar is currently establishing an experimental school for kindergartens in order to carry out experiments on pro- 81. The preamble to the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, which was adopted unanimously by the General Assembly on 20 November 1959 [resolution 1386 (XIV)], states that" ... the child, by reason of his physical and mental ,immaturity, needs special safeguards and care ... " and that it is therefore in- cumbent on individuals and groups to exert all-out ef- forts to ensure the rights of the child through legislation and other measures. The' Declaration also states that " . . . mankind owes to the child the best it has to give". In its 10 principles, the Declaration reaffirms that the child shall enjoy certain rights without distinc- tion or discrimination on account of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin. Among these rights are health protec- tion and opportunities and facilities to enable him to develop physically, mentally, morally, spiritually and socially in a healthy and normal manner and in condi- tions of freedom and dignity. The Declaration also states that every child has a right to enjoy the benefits of social security, including the right to adequate nutrition, housing, recreation and medical services. It also reaf- firms the right of all children to be protected against all forms of neglect, cruelty, and exploitation and racial or religious discrimination and to be brought up in an at- mosphere of peace and brotherhood. 82. These aims have not up to now been achieved fully in many of the developing countries because of social and economic conditions which have already been described. It goes without saying that they are almost totally lacking in the communities of refugees who were compelled to leave their homes due to internal struggles, regional wars or natural calamities. This is the case in Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. However, the Palestinian child is the livingembodiment of the problem of refugee children in all its human, political and humantarian dimensions. The Paiestinian child, unlike other children in the world, has been com- pelled to be born, to liveand to die in exile, in a foreign land and as a stateless person. It is perhaps no exaggera- tion to say that the Palestinian child was not only deprived of his land and identity but also of his very childhood, because a child born and brought up on land infested with mines and barbed wire and exposed from all sides to artillery shelling by the Israeli enemy, whose brutal air attacks include the use of internationally pro- hibited destructive weapons, does not dream of owning a toy, as do other children of the world. His dream - if he is allowed that luxury- is to own a real rifle with which he can defend himself against the threat to his life until such time as he can return to his land and home. 83. This is why my delegation states firmly that the problem of the Palestinian children, who live in refugee camps or who are scattered all over the world as exiles, is not only a humanitarian problem but essentially a political issue which the United Nations has been discussing ever since its creation. That is why we should fully realize that the responsibility of the international community towards these children cannot be confined

The International Year of the Child requires that the hopes, needs and problems of children be discussed by all peoples, Governments, organizations and Individuals. They should work together to prepare and implement constructive, effec- tive and practical programmes in the interest of children everywhere. When we accepted to make this year the In- ternational Year of the Child, we did so because we realized that children are our most precious asset. The happiness of today's children will determine the shape of tomorrow's world, one of children assured of the stable elements of life-proper food, clothing and healthy housing, receiving education in a family lavishing love and tenderness upon them, providing them with proper protection and imbuing their innocent hearts with high moral values. 85. In the course of the Year, many and varied ac- tivities have been undertaken, speeches and statements delivered and many documents and papers issued. But at the end of it all, we must examine our conscience and ask ourselves what we have given to ourchildren and what plans we have made to secure for them a good future, for they deserve the best. 86. We must reply to this question because this Year has made us all think hard and with sincerity whether we have implemented the principles incorporated in the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. 87. This year is the twentieth anniversary of the adop- tion of that Declaration by the international communi- ty, of which we form a part. Principle 2 of that Declara- tion [resolution 1386 (XIV)] states that: "The child shall enjoy special protection, and shall be given opportunities and facilities, by law and by other means, to enable him to develop physically, mentally, morally, spiritually and socially in a healthy and normal manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity. In the enactment of laws for this purpose, the best interests of the child shall be the paramount consideration". This is what principle 2 of that Declaration stresses. 88. There are more than 1 billion children below the age of 15, representing one third of the world's popula- tion, and 75 per cent of them live in the developing countries. In those third-world countries, health services are enjoyed by only one child in 20. A total of 200 million children and babies suffer from malnutrition, and one child in every five dies before it reaches the age of five. That shows the extent of the suffering of children in the third world. Furthermore, children from poor cities are deprived of education because about 100 million children between the ages of 7 to 10cannot read, write or do sums. About 40 per cent of the children who 89. We all know full well the problems of children in the third world. Such children are deprived of the necessities of life, including proper food, clothing, housing, health facilities and education. These are the basic rights of man which the child should have. 90. We hear daily of deliberations, research, seminars, documents and press articles relating to issues governing man, his rights and his problems, such as economic problems and the new international economic order, disarmament and the environment and many other sub- jects. We, the international community, should ac- celerate our efforts to lay down the basis of the new in- ternational economic order, one based on justice and equity. We should also seek to put a limit to the produc- tion of weapons and their diversification. Our children need peace and security; they need love, brotherhood, co-operation and solidarity. They need food, clothing, education and health. They do not need destruction, death and hatred. We must awaken dormant con- sciences. Millions are being spent to produce sophisticated weapons at a time when millions of our children are dying of hunger, disease and cold. These millions should be spent on ensuring the happiness of children, in whatever country they live. A child is a human being and we work for the rights of human be- ings. Let us all work to solve our problems and to bring happiness to our children. 91. My country attaches great importance to children. We believe that we are giving our children most of the services they need. We promptly supported and pro- moted the proposals presented to the General Assembly concerning the proclamation of 1979 as the Interna- tional Year of the Child. Libya has set up a High Com- mittee for the preparation of the International Year of the Child. That committee has received help from the secretariats of social security, health, education, foreign affairs, and from women's federations and public infor- mation bodies. The Committee engaged in several ac- tivities to celebrate the Year, including the preparation of two booklets on childhood in the Jamahiriya and a study on theory and practice relating to children. It has also prepared bills, posters, stamps and other publicity matter related to the Year. 92. The Committee has also included in its time-table the building of a model amusement city for children and a factory specializing in children's toys. It has also prepared a film in the Arabic language with English sub- titles. That film shows the various services available to children in our Jamahiriya. The Committee to which I refer also approached industrial and trade institutions, the press and publishing houses with a view to having them take part in the Year by printing the emblem of the International Year of the Child on their products, which they did. 93. My country has paid particular attention to health and educational matters. It has provided proper nutri- 94. My country has not neglected the social services, since it has increased the number of social aid and infor- mation centres whose task it is to educate families in the social, health and cultural side of life. The creative and artistic talents of the child have also received attention. A children's theatre has been built and festivals, parties, musical performances and art exhibitions have been held throughout the Jamahiriya in celebration of the In- ternational Year of the Child. The Libyan Arab Jamahiriya has not forgotten the handicapped child, whose needs are being fully looked after. Libya, after all, took the initiative of proposing to the General Assembly that 1981 be declared the International Year for Disabled Persons. Principle 5 of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child says: "The child who is physically, mentally or socially handicapped shall be given the special treatment, education and care required by his particular condi- tion." That provision is applied in our Jamahiriya. The han- dicapped child is given full protection, guidance and education. 95. On the occasion of the International Year of the Child, the High Committee for the Year has conducted field trips to institutions and schools for the handicap- ped and has held festivals in celebration of the Year. 96. My country has always attached great importance to issues involving human rights and is therefore ob- viously concerned with the rights of the child, for they are the rights of man himself. The Moslem religion, which is society's charter in the Jamahiriya, proclaims respect for human rights and preaches love, brother- hood and co-operation. It also deals with the issue of children, because it describes children as being the orna- ment of life on earth. Hence, it was incumbent on us to preserve our children and increase our efforts, to co- operate and set aside our political problems in order to be able to build a healthy and happy generation. 97. As we discuss the world's children and their prob- lems, let us remember that millions of children are gaz- ing at us innocently and patiently. What are we doing for them? What plans do we have? Will we be giving them a better life and a happier childhood? 98. A glance at the child in the third world, in Asia, in the refugee camps, in Latin America, in Africa, in southern Africa, in Palestine, the thought of their deprivations and suffering, will make us co-operate and close ranks for the sake of these children, so that we may implant in their hearts the spirit of co-operation,

OUi' debate on the International Year of the Child has a three-fold pur- pose: to rejoice in the success of the Year; to reflect on its achievements and lessons; and to point up ways of sustaining the momentum -it has created. 101. The International Year of the Child has been an unparalleled success. No other similar programme under United Nations auspices has met with such universal acclaim or generated so wide a range of governmental and community-based activities. The statistics and examples set forth in the report of the Ex- ecutive Director of UNICEF [A/34/452 and Add./] show how real and sustained were the interest and par- ticipation in the programmes and projects of the Inter- national Year of the Child, 102. New Zealand, no less than other countries, has been profoundly affected by the activities of the past year. The breadth and depth of the support for the In- ternational Year of the Child in my country may be gauged from the fact that New Zealand's National Commission was the first in the world to be established. It is made up of representatives from more than 100 organizations, most of them non-governmental and voluntary. I shall not describe in detail New Zealand's observance of the Year. Some of the principal elements in the programme of activities elaborated by the New Zealand National Commission are set out in paragl'aphs 55 and 94 of the Executive Director's report. 103. We all agree that the International Year of the Child has been a great success. It is therefore worth- while reflecting for a moment on the reasons for that success. New Zealand believes that there were three principal factors. The first was a theme of universal ap- peal. All speakers in this debate, from whatever part of the world they come, whatever their cultural back- ground or whatever governmental system they repre- sent, have started from the premise that safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is an investment in the future well-being of their societies. The second factor was the recognition that the Year could have a lasting impact only if action was concentrated at the na- tional level. This was reflected in the emphasis put on the catalytic role of the International Year of the Child secretariat. The third factor was the dedication, en- thusiasm and hard work of the people who made this machinery work so well. Mrs. Aldaba-Um, the Secretary-General's tireless Special Representative for the International Year of the Child, Mr. Labouisse, Ex- ecutive Director of UNICEF, and their staffs deserve our whole-hearted thanks. 104. The successof the International Year of the Child is undoubted. The real test of success, however, will be its long-term impact on national policies. Obviously, lOS. In New Zealand, our National Commission for the International Year of the Child is now drawing up recommendations for the future in the light of the ex- perience of this year's activities. Before it dissolves itself in the middle of 1980,the National Commission expects to make proposals on continuing programmes, legisla- tion, institutions and social attitudes. These should have lasting value for children in New Zealand and for New Zealand's activities in helping children in developing countries. The New Zealand Prime Minister has made it clear that our Gcvernment will give these recommenda- tions, where they envisage governmental action, careful and most sympathetic consideration. 106. Other countries clearly intend to follow a similar course. There will therefore be a continuing need for some institutional channel through which we can ex- change information and views on the development of activities that were set in motion during the Interna- tional Year of the Child. UNICEF, under the direction of its Executive Board, is the logical body to carry out this important job. We believeits role in the years ahead should continue to be one of supporting the efforts of national Governments, and non-governmental organ- izations, at the national level. 107. I cannot conclude without acknowledging that, despite the enormous success of the International Year of the Child, many children have been little touched by it. The children of refugees in many parts of Africa, the Middle East and South-East Asia; children living under oppressive regimes, especially regimes founded on racist doctrines; children facing famine in Kampuchea - these and others have derived little benefit from our activities. Their plight is a sad and sobering reminder that we can- not rest content with what we have achieved in 1979. There will always be children in need, and their needs must be met. 108. Mr. von WECHMAR~ral Republic of Ger- many): I should like to expi ~ appreciation of my Government that the achievt<mc:uts of the International Year of the Child are directly debated in the plenary meetings ofthis year's General Assembly. First, there is, indeed, no doubt among the Member countries of the United Nations that the International Year of the Child has received overwhelming support both from the political decision-makers and from the public. Valuable momentum has been generated in a volume beyond any expectation at the time when the Year was launched. 109. Secondly, I think it only fair that a word of thanks should be extended by the General Assembly to the Special Representative of the International Year of the Child, Mrs. Estefania Aldaba-Lim, for her untiring efforts to promote the idea of the Year, and through her to the International Year of the Child secretariat, to UNICEF as the lead agency for the Year and the numerous international, governmental and non- governmental organizations which have contributed to the goals and objectives of the Year. 110. The International Year of the Child has reminded us of a variety of problems in our own societies such as, for instance, how difficult it has become for children to live and grow up in densely-populated urban en- 111. The word "hope", so closely linked in our languages with the word "future" is, indeed, not always justified. I do not want to dwell at length on the need and the fate of children in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The World Bank, inter alia, has provided alarming documentation. But I do wish to observe that the general positive response that the Year has had so far in my country seems to me to stem from the fact that the citizens called upon to tackle these problems and to contribute to their solution are not confronted with abstract targets like, for instance, 0.7 per cent of the gross national product as official development as- sistance. Children- and the needs and sufferings of children- are something very real and visible. Solidari- ty with them is widely regarded as an obvious obliga- tion. 112. In accordance with resolution 32/109 of the General Assembly, the Federal Republic of Germany has set up a National Commission for the International Year of the Child, presided over by the Federal Minister fer Youth, Family Affairs and Health. The office of the National Commission has been in close contact with the International Year of the Child secretariat since its in- ception, The National Commission and its eight work- ing groups have succeeded in informing the public in my country of the specific needs, dangers and demands of children and in making the public aware of the necessity to meet the needs by proper policies and actions. All the details have been passed to the secretariat of the Inter- national Year of the Child to be included in its documentation. 113. Furthermore, I should like to mention that we have transferred substantial funds to the secretariat for meeting its administrative costs and that we have pro- vided, to mark our efforts in this Year vis-a-vis third- world countries, special fund-in-trust to UNICEF for executing, in co-operation with WHO, large-scale im- munization campaigns in Egypt and in the Sudan; a similar effort for the benefit of children in Nicaragua is under way. 114. While expressions of enthusiasm for the Year have been the rule here in the General Assembly, some simple facts should not be overlooked. For the three and a half years of the operation of the International Year of the Child secretariat -that is, from mid-1977 to the end of 1980-the UNICEF Executive Board has approv- ed a budget of $5.9 million. We have noted with concern that the earlier estimate of $4.2 million was exceeded. Furthermore, we have realized from appendix VI of document A/34/452 that, as of 15 August 1979, only $4.1 million have been pledged. It cannot be noted with satisfaction that from 152States Members of the United Nations only one third, or 54, have made contributions to meeting the running costs of the International Year of the Child secretariat, and that, among these 54, only six of the Member States provide two thirds of the total secretariat income.

The proclamation of 1979 as the International Year of the Child has been one of the most momentous actions ever taken by the United Nations. I say "momentous" because the Year deals with the essence of being human-that is to say, with the fundamental rights, the dignity and the worth of the human person. 117. The United Nations has, since its inception, con- cerned itself with promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion. 118. The International Year of the Child marks the twentieth anniversary of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, which was unanimously adopted by this Assembly. That Declaration, together with the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, from which it largely stems, are the two most important documents decreed and promulgated by the United Nations. 119. Conscious of the basic truths expounded in these Declarations, and well aware that children throughout the world represent mankind's most prized and only durable possession, the United Nations and its specializ- ed agencies, notably UNICEF, have over the last three years embarked on a worldwide campaign to refocus at- tention on the child per se and concomitantly to stimulate action programmes on the national and local levels that benefit children. 120. Judging from the addresses of the speakers who have preceded met and the detailed reports submitted by Governments outlining specific programmes and proj- ects undertaken in their respective countries, my delega- tion notes with a deep sense of satisfaction and gratification that the over-all worldwide response to General Assembly resolution 31/169 of 21 December 1976 has been an overwhelmingly positive one. 121. And yet, notwithstanding the positive steps undertaken by numerous Governments, including my own, and by 8.considerable number of private organiza- tions, the sad fact is that millions of children throughout the world lack the most rudimentary necessities of life. 122. In developing countries in particular, thousands of children suffer untimely deaths as a result of diseases and malnutrition. Future generations will judge us harshly, and rightly so, if in the midst of so much wealth, death can be allowed to proceed unhindered on its macabre path. 124. There are children today who suffer as a result of the most abhorrent system ever developed by man-the system of apartheid. Others die daily as a result of war, while still others languish in refugee camps as a conse- quence of war. They are all voiceless and defenceless victims, representing shameful manifestations of man's inhumanity to man. 125. The international community cannot remain passive in the face of the following facts: 700 million children in the world are vulnerable to the various diseases caused by contaminated water; every year 15.5 million children in the world die before they reach the age of five; 1 million children every year become blind because of vitamin A deficiency; 5 million children in the world are refugees living under intolerable condi- tions; 52 million children throughout the world are employed before an appropriate minimum age and are in fact subjected to forms of neglect, cruelty and ex- ploitation. 126. The picture on the international scale is indeed sad, shameful and frightening and mankind as a whole should share this responsibility. We have no choice but to try our utmost to rectify this situation, or humanity willsuffer tragic, irreversible consequences. The man of tomorrow is the child of today, and the foundations of manhood are laid in childhood. William Wordsworth perhaps expressed it best when he wrote, "The Child is Father of the Man". 127. I would be remiss if I were not to refer to the relentless suffering of the children in my own country that have fallen victim to man's aggressive designs. 128. As is well known, Cyprus was attacked and par- tially occupied in 1974. Consequently, 1979 found almost half of my country's territory under foreign oc- cupation for the fifth consecutive year. This ongoing ag- gression against a small and defenceless country touches every aspect of the life of each and every Cypriot, caus- ing repercussions far beyond the borders of Cyprus and challenging, if I may say so, the credibility of the inter- national community. As a direct result of the expan- sionist and partitionist plans of the invader, 200,000 people, representing almost one third of the, total population of Cyprus, became refugees in their own country. Of these, more than 42,000 are children under 15 years of age and their right of shelter is being flagrantly violated by the refusal of the occupation troops to allow them to return to their homes. The right of education is also being trampled upon by the refusal of the occupation authorities to allow the operation of schools in the occupied part of the island. It should be noted that 34.6 per cent of primary school buildings, 33 per cent of the secondary schools and 38 per cent of the technical schools of the Republic of Cyprus are current- ly under occupation. In addition, 41.2 per cent of primary-school teachers are homeless. The right of the child to enjoy special protection and be given oppor- tunities and facilities by law and by other means to enable him to develop physically, mentally, spiritually, morally and socially in a healthy and normal manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity is utterly 129. This is the world that the Cypriot children are forced to live in. Nevertheless, despite these devastating conditions, there was throughout this year a concerted effort by the Government of Cyprus to meet the objec- tives of the International Year of the Child as outlined in the relevant United Nations resolutions. 130. The International Year of the Child assumes special significance as far as Cyprus is concerned. It provides an opportunity for looking into the problems of Cypriot children, not only those problems that were present as a result of State inability to solve them, but also those ominous problems which were created by the well-known events of the summer of 1974. 131. In order to give purpose and direction to the In- ternational Year of the Child, the Cyprus Government established a National Commission under the patronage of the First Lady. This Commission is a very represen- tative body, including members of some 55 non- governmental organizations, town municipalities, the Church, various ethnic groups and all Government ministries and departments. 132. In its entirety, the Cyprus Commission for the In- ternational Year of the Child operates as a planning body with an executive secretariat and various sub- commissions that have undertaken to implement an am- bitious programme of work. 133. The Government is also undertaking initiatives for the improvement and expansion of services to children in the health, education and welfare sectors. The salient areas in which action is being taken are the following. 134. Children's legislation, which was introduced in colonial times in a piecemeal fashion, willbe codified and amended in accord with contemporary trends in child welfare. In addition, the Government of Cyprus has decided to sign during the International Year of the Child the European Convention'on the Legal Status of Children Born Out of Wedlock, and to take all necessary legislative and other measures which will make possible the signature of the European Conven- tion on the Adoption of Children. 135. Large day-care centres are being erected in the major cities as well as smaller ones in refugee set- tlements. A scheme for pre-school education classes will cater for the needs of the larger population of children between three and five years old. 136. Foster-care services for children will be improved and studies are at an advanced stage for the establish- ment of a programme of family guidance centres which willoffer psychiatric and social servicesto children with emotional problems and their parents. 137. The first home for mentally retarded children has already been established as part of a comprehensive pro- gramme for the handicapped. 138. New pror- ;.,\,~·;:s for handling juvenile delin- quents have been introduced with the aim of removing 139. In the medical field, attention will be concen- trated in the age-old problem of cooley's anemia, which constantly threatens the health and life of the children of Cyprus. Several centres are being planned which will offer intensive medical care and preventive services to children and prospective parents. In the broader area of child health, large comprehensive medical centres for the health of child and mother will be set up in accor- dance with plans envisaged in the Makarios Founda- tion, which was setup by the late President of Cyprus. 140. These are some of the plans and actions currently being undertaken by my Government in order to enhance the cardinal principles enshrined in the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. The programme of work is perhaps over-ambitious and certainly will not be completed in the near future. However, it is certain that 1979 marks an important landmark in reorienting Cyprus' ~ objectives and strengthening its efforts for its children who, like all children of the world, became vic- tims of colonialism, racism and expansionism. My Government is committed in word and deed to imple- ment the rights of all Cypriot children, regardless of their origin. The child is slowly, but surely, being placed at the centre of State interest and concern and is becom- ing an integral part of Cyprus' national planning for social and economic development. 141. Before concluding, I should like to avail myself of this opportunity to pay a tribute, on behalf of the Government and people of Cyprus, to UNICEF as well as to the Secretary-General's Special Representative for the International Year'of the Child and her staff, for all they have done, and will continue to do, on behalf of all the children of the world in general, and the children of Cyprus in particular. We laud these efforts and we hope that the world, benefiting from the International Year of the Child, will be determined, more than ever, to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.

Children evoke in all of us the deepest of human sentiments-love, concern and a sense of responsibility. The extent to which this observa- tion is universal. has been amply demonstrated by the overwhelming response to the International Year of the Child throughout the world. The decision incorporated in General Assembly resolution 31/169, recommending primarily a national approach in celebrating the Year, helped each country to focus on its real needs and to think in terms of practical action, rather than declara- tions of intent. Oratory and debate are hardly necessary where consensus prevails on goals and objectives. The main task was and is to explore ways and means of im- plementing what we know to be essential if children are to be spared misery and suffering. 143. The guidance and assistance provided by the In- ternational Year of the Child secretariats in New York and Geneva as well as by UNICEF and personally by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Mrs. Aldaba-Lim, have been highly effective, and we hope that the considerable outpouring of factual and educa- tional materials, ideas and suggestions for initiatives will continue in the future. We must ensure that the in- terest and excitement engendered will be maintained by 144. The International Year of the Child will not have achieved its objective if governments and peoples are not prepared for fundamental changes in the economic and social conditions that have kept millions of children in the vicious grip of poverty and suffering. It will not have achieved its objective unless there is comprehensive and priority planning for children, with policies firmly rooted in their basic and essential requirements at all levels of their existence. It will not have achieved its ob- jective before adequate budgets are provided, basic re- quirements are translated into legislative action, and there are sufficient competent and trained personnel to service the most disadvantaged. The International Year of the Child will not have achieved its goals until children are better understood and respected, and treated as the complete human beings they are. 145. National action for children, combining both Government and local assessments of need, cannot overlook the expressed wishes of people at the grass- roots level to contribute to the development of their children. The accumulated wisdom and good sense, ex- pressed in age-old traditions and customs, reflect sound values in no way inconsistent with modern services. Highly developed systems can often benefit from the retention of such values, not the least of which is family solidarity. The decision, reiterated at the recent Ex- ecutive Board meeting of UNICEF in Mexico, to con- centrate on the delivery of basic services and primary health care, certainly envisages active participation by the recipients. 146. At the political level, decision makers must manifest an understanding and a willingness sometimes to forgo more dramatic and visible programmes for the sake of sustained long-term efforts, the results of which will be discerned only in the more distant future. They must recognize that investment in the child must begin with pregnancy, through the care provided for both mother and child in the first crucial months. And educa- tion, too, must begin in the cradle, 147. In Israel, the greatest importance is attached to these early years, with physical care available for all through a network of mother-and-child health clinics, and through generous social insurance legislation in support of the mother, the child and the family. Nearly 90 per cent of three and four-year-olds in my country are provided for in nursery and kindergarten settings, with the number of day nurseries for the under-threes being constantly increased. A special International Year of the Child effort throughout Israel highlighted the im- portance of care for this age group, emphas...:ng the reaching out approach, which integrates the mother, parents, home and community in a comprehensive educational process. 148. In Israel the problems of the generation gap were highlighted for special consideration during the Interna- tional Year of the Child, within the context of early childhood education and the family. One lesson which emerged was that, as part of the process of education, the school must strengthen its links with the family, the environment and the community around it. We also devoted special attention to the problems of children's 150. The appalling plight of children living in urban poverty, in both developed and developing countries, calls for more international help than is forthcoming at present. With the accelerated trend everywhere towards urbanization, foresight in planning and preventive measures are urgently required. The International Year of the Child has perhaps demonstrated that UNICEF cannot fail to address itself to problems of this kind, even while continuing to be preoccupied by the prob- lems of children in the third world. The sufferings of children of the fourth world are crying out for atten- tion. 151. The year 1979provided a special impetus and in- volved more people, more publicity, more widespread recognition of the consequences of failing to act con- structively. However, 30 years of sustained work by UNICEF and at times massive interventions have not brought salvation or definitive solutions. Millions of children still languish in intolerable conditions. UNICEF, in co-operation with other United Nations agencies, rightly continues to concentrate its efforts on children living in the world's poorest countries by help- ing to meet their most fundamental needs. We welcome the decision taken at the last Executive Board meeting to provide more assistance for the physicallyand mentally handicapped. 152. The Israel Committee, like many other national committees, has benefited from the opportunity afford- ed by the International Year of the Child for a broad spectrum of representatives from both private and public bodies to confer together. Thp, interdisciplinary nature of essential policies for <.:iuJ(lll'cn and their families has been underlined. The cross-fertilization of viewsand experience among different countries has un- doubtedly increased understanding of the universality of child problems, in spite of the diversity of cultures, history and resources. As the children themselves have proclaimed to the world, in poetry and in art, their needs and aspirations do not differ. Every day, every month and every year must be dedicated to fulfilling and ensuring the most optimistic hopes of childhood. 153. In brief, the International Year of the Child has been a highly educational and beneficial enterprise, not so much for children as for us who have the first repon- sibility to nourish and nurture them. Israel commends the initiatives taken in connexion with the Year and en- dorses the decision to designate UNICEF as the lead agency for children.

Before calling upon the next speaker, I should like to draw the attention of the

Mr. Presi- dent, at the outset of this debate you mentioned the im- portance of the momentum which had been created by the International Year of the Child and the need to sus- tain it with continuous effort. My delegation shares your views.The creation of that momentum is, as wesee it, the first major consequence of the establishment of an International Year of the Child. 156. Moreover, the International Year of the Child has provided an opportunity for Governments and world public opinion to mobilize energies for engaging in a joint effort to reviewand evaluate the present situa- tion of children and to draw up new priorities and pro- grammes, whenever necessary, so as to facilitate the attainment of the goals of the Year on a permanent, ongoing basis, even after the celebrations of this Year have been concluded. 157. My Government has supported the idea of the In- ternational Year of the Child ever since it was first broached at the United Nations. That is not at all sur- prising, since 53 per cent of the population of Brazil is made up of those under 20 years of age. Although Brazil's growth rate has lately shown a slight tendency fall off, it is still around 2.8 per cent per annum. Hence, for the Government of Brazil to strive to build a better nation for our future generations is more than a challenge- it is a primary responsibility. In that sense, the future of the children of today is as important a con- cern as the struggle for national development. As a mat- ter of fact, it is impossible to pursue one of these goals without following the road that leads to the other as well. Actually the goals coincide. The International Year of the Child has given us a unique opportunity to review, study, debate and reassess both the national and the international situation of children. 158. In Brazil the preparation for future generations is viewed as a task of first priority. To fulfil this task, the Government strives to provide equal opportunities for all and to ensure that all children will benefit from ade- quate health and educational services. This is an invest- ment in the future, and the effort entirely coincides with the need for an equal distribution of the benefits of development. 159. Throughout the developing world, the situation of children suffers from much the same problems, and Brazil is no exception. Although a significant percen- tage of youngsters already has a share in the progress of our nation, others have not yet been incorporated into the rapid growth of the country's economy. We still must expand the basic educational system, health-care facilities, and pre-natal and maternal care. Not only do we have to ensure access of the lower income groups to technical training, but we must also make sure that Brazilian children from all income groups enjoy the same academic opportunities. In this context, any historical distortions or mistakes must be eliminated. We cannot allow our children to suffer from malnutri- tion or to lack adequate biopsychological and emotional stimuli. Although concern for the situation of children, and specially concern for pOC" children, has found its 160. This troublesome situation emerged with sheer clarity to a greater degree than ever before during the preparations for the International Year of the Child. In this period, my Government sponsored, among other things, 11 panel dealing with pre-school problems. Governmental and non-governmental experts took part in the discussions, and their conclusions provided the basis for a reassessment of social policies and priorities. They drew attention to the fact that there can be no true social development where there is no guarantee of the most fundamental and vital needs. They agreed that, if we manage to provide children with at least this minimum legacy, we will succeed in starting the machinery that, in one generation's time, will be capable of turning out the kind of citizens that make society's infrastructure operable. 161. The expert group felt that Government policies should be oriented towards the following. First, dif- ferent approaches should be used towards children under three years of age and towards those in the four to six-year age group. In the former category, the biological protection of the individual should be the primary goal; in the latter, the thrust should be towards the integration of the child into the social milieu and the provision of pedagogical stimuli. Secondly, to the extent of our limited financial resources a nation-wide vaccina- tion campaign should be implemented so as to reduce the rates of infant morbidity and mortality, and at the same time the programmes for supplementary feeding that are already under way in some areas, with con- siderable successin the struggle to combat malnutrition, should be amplified to national scope. Thirdly, the base of pre-school services operations should be broadened in the light of the experience obtained in several states of the Federation. Fourthly, the creche system should be enlarged so as to help mothers who work outside the home and the foster-parent idea should be encouraged. New laws have been passed in this direction. Fifthly, family services in the fields of hygiene, health care, education and psycho-emotional relations should be defined, and the sanitation system expanded. Sixthly, and finally, efforts to assist minors should be unified and a national campaign to bring about a country-wide awareness of the problems affecting children should be promoted. 162. Without elaborating on all the activities carried out in the context of the Year of the Child, let me point our that the public and private sectors have worked together so as to make public opinion aware of the situation of the children in Brazil ,"'nd are thereby ready to contribute to the solution of the existing problems. There have been fairs, congresses, seminars, research studies and distribution of printed material all over the country. Universities, high schools, transit authorities and the mass media have all been co-operating in the campaign suggested by the aforementioned group of ex- perts. A special unit formed to give special attention to children was created within the Ministry of Planning. A National Commission for the International Year of the Child was appointed with representatives of the Ministries of Education and Culture, Health, External 163. The UNICEF document containing basic infor- marion on the International Year of the Child [A34/452 and Add. 1] was translated into Portuguese and widely distributed. The official Brazilian newsagency, Agenda Nacional, produced a documentary on the activities car- ried out by the Government relating-to the welfare of children for distribution to both cinemas and radio sta- tions. The Post Office printe# commemorative stamps using children's drawings. The twenty-first Brazilian Congress on Paediatrics was just held at Brasilia, and it gathered together 3,500 Brazilian paediatricians and 50 foreign participants. A Congress on the Use of Audiophonics in Education was held at Rio de Janeiro last February. The Catholic University of Sao Paulo made a study on the situation of children in Sao Paulo. Research into the rights of children, family, health, welfare, education, leisure, work, environment and communications is under way. The Brazilian Institute on Municipal Administration is sponsoring research covering areas such as the role of municipal authorities in improving the situation of children; the situation of children in Brazil; the legal and real possibilities already existing; a quantitative assessment of the situation of the child and of the participation of children in the total labour force of the country. The National Ministry of Social Security prepared a study on children living in ur- ban areas. There are active International Year of the Child Commissions in approximately 6,000 muni- cipalities and in almost all states which form the Federative Republic of Brazil. In this sense, the Interna- tional Year of the Child can already be called a success. On few occasions has national public opinion been so effectively mobilized as during 1979. 164. Through the momentum created, it has been possible in Brazil to prepare the groundwork for the future. The state commissions for the International Year of the Child are largely responsible for the achievements. With the help of the most important television and radio networks, millions of people have realized the importance of the work of the United Na- tions in this field and have participated either directly or indirectly in the celebrations in Brazil. 165. Although the main purpose of the work done this year was to find solutions to the problems of children in Brazil, some of our findings may apply to some developing countries. My Government is ready to share our experience with other nations. We have found the present debate most informative, and we look forward 166. Perhaps the most outstanding lesson we can learn from this Year is that it is not sufficient to deal with minors in a humanitarian way. If the objective is to make the world a better place for all of us, changes in structure must be made within the nations themselves. 167. In conclusion, I should like to pay a special tribute to Mrs. Aldaba-Lim, for her excellent work. We are happy to pay our respects to her for the enthusiasm with which she took on the task of co-ordinating the preparations for the International Year of the Child and for her successful achievements.

In November, 20 years will have elapsed since the Declaration of the Rights of the Child was adopted. The spirit of the docu- ment was reflected in the preamble, which said in part that "mankind owes to the child the best it has to give". This is so because a child is the most valuable asset any family, any society or any nation possesses. 169. With that Declaration the General Assembly made an appeal to parents, to men and women as in- dividuals, to voluntary organizations and local authorities, as well as to Governments of States. During this current year the appeal is again made, in the interest of the child, to all of us as individuals and as community members. 170. According to the Declaration, every child has the right to adequate nutrition, housing, education and medical services. In the enactment of laws and regula- tions, the best interest of the child should be the para- mount consideration. Unfortunately, this is a world where the majority of children are living beyond the reach of these essential and basic services. In this con- nexion I should like to pay serious attention to the refugee children as well as to the problems of child abuse and child labour. 171. Improving the situation of children in developing countries should be among the main goals of the New International Development Strategy. The improvement of the living conditions of both children and youth is not only a humanitarian objective; it is also a very im- portant measure in the economic and social develop- ment. It is therefore most important to see that the young generations enter the era of the New Interna- tional Economic Order better prepared, more and better educated and healthier than the previous generations. The development strategy for the 1980sshould therefore in a realistic way set targets for the improvement of the living conditions of children, particularly in the developing countries. 172. The International Year of the Child has been a challenge of global scope. At the same time, it is impor- tant to ensure that children receive a higher national priority in terms of planning, the allocation of resources, operational programmes and services. The President of the Republic of Finland in his traditional New Year's address this year dealt with the problems of children and the International Year of the Child. He said: 173. As a first step, most Governments have concen- trated on establishing a national commission for the Year charged with the responsibility of planning and co- ordinating activities, in response to the general objec- tives of the International Year of the Child as they ap- plied to each country. Today national commissions for the Year have been established all over the world. 174. In Finland, the national machinery was entrusted with the following main tasks: first, preparing and co- ordinating the celebration of the Year in Finland; secondly, making known nationwide the Declaration of the Rights of the Child; thirdly, preparing recommenda- tions on how the position of the child should be improv- ed; fourthly, disseminating information on the position of children in developing countries. 175. The Commission co-ordinates the operations of various organizations and supports the .work of municipal and local groups working for the Year. 176. Also, the non-governmental organizations have played a crucial role in the Year and their dynamic con- tribution is reflected in the practical action programmes that they have adopted or intensified for the benefit of children. Such efforts, in co-operation with Govern- ments, help to increase the outreach to the children. 177. In order to show the importance that Finland at- taches to the work of UNICEF for improving the life of children in developing countries, my Government made an additional contribution of 1 million Finnish marks to UNICEF, making the total general contribution for 19794.6 million marks. In the budget proposal for next year, the contribution to UNICEF is proposed to be in- creased to 6 million Finnish marks, which is equivalent to $1.5 million. 178. In addition, Finland has made two special con- tributions through UNICEF: one for the Bangladesh Education Programme, totalling 580,000 Finnish marks, the other for the Village Women's Training Project in The United Republic of Tanzania, totalling 400,000 Finnish marks. 179. The question has been asked as to what will be the follow-up activities of the International Year of the Child and how to guarantee that the great interest in it be translated into growing operational activities for the benefit of children both on the international and the na- tional levels. This was also the evident and anticipated concern of the General Assembly when, in its resolution 33/83, it called for a report on the follow-up activities for the years ahead. 180. It is the view of my Government that UNICEF should continue to be designated as the lead agency in the United Nations system in the general activities for the benefit of children, in co-ordination with the Director-General for Development and International Economic Co-operation. On the other hand, it does not seem necessary to my delegation that the International 181. While the International Year of the Child will soon be behind us, our main task now is to ensure that the momentum of the action generated by it will be sus- tained beyond this year to ensure that the promise, the hopes and the expectations born of the Year do not ex- pire with it.

The United Nations has proclaimed international years on various occasions to create awareness in world public opinion on questions that require special international attention. Looking back to the 10 months of 1979, one could easily state that the International Year of the Child has been one of the most successful. This is due, to a very large extent, to the efforts of UNICEF, its Executive Director, Mr. Henry Labouisse, and the Special Representative for the International Year of the Child, Mrs. Estafania Aldaba- Lim. Their dedication to the cause deserve the highest praise. 183. Turkey is a developing country. As such it is fac- ed with all the problems of developing societies, where resources are scarce and investment is required in a wide spectrum in economic and social fields. The difficulty of choosing priorities makes itself felt at each and every level, and ideas clash for the most effective utilization of the funds available. No one has been able to prove so far that concentration on a certain field, be it social ser- vices, agriculture or industry, would contribute most' to national development, for one is directly related to the other. Policies aimed at meeting the requirements of children are also necessarily formulated against this background, where servicesto be offered rely heavily on the economic infrastructure of the country. It follows, therefore, that the health, nutrition, education and social welfare needs of the children can only be viewed as parts of the general problems of economic develop- ment and the solutions lie in, the over-all growth and development of the economy. This reality leads us to the conclusion that the hundreds of millions of children in the developing world can' only receive their share of human well-beingas and when these countries are given the opportunity to enter into a state of rapid develop- ment, an opportunity that can only emerge through a different and new order in international economy. Children are bound to suffer in societies that are strug- gling with international discrepancies, disparities and inequities. Their cause is not different from the cause of global development itself. 184. Moving from the premise that healthy and edu- cated children would form the basis of a dynamic socie- ty, Turkey has never hesitated to lay stress on child care and development. In fact, since we entered the period of planned development back in 1963, special policies were formulated in detail, with concrete objectives, in our five yearly development plans aimed at meeting the essential requirements of children. Funds allocated to such services constitute a considerable percentage of total public spending. The present development plan carries specific goals for maternity and child health ser- vices, the distribution of clean drinking water in rural areas, the expansion of pre-school education to cover the whole country, the extension of the elementary school system to cover the total of the children of school age from the present 90 per cent coverage, the similar 185. April 23 has been celebrated in Turkey since 1920, when the founder of the Turkish Republic, Kemal Atatiirk, dedicated that day, which was the occasion of the opening of the new Turkish Parliament, to the children of Turkey. It was an expression of trust in the children, who would become the future leaders and ad- ministrators of the country. This year, on 23April 1979, as a contribution to the International Year of the Child, the Turkish Parliament opened its doors to the children of the world and children from a variety of countries sat in the Parliament, thus initiating for the first time the International Children's Parliament. 186. This was one of the many activities embarked upon in Turkey in the implementation of the General Assembly resolution on the International Year of the Child. I could say that the opportunity offered through the proclamation of the Year was seized with reat en- thusiasm by the public in further promoting the cause of the child. Under the co-ordination of the Turkish Na- tional International Year of the Child Committee, various. Ministries, private companies and organiza- tions, over 100 non-governmental organizations, the press, radio and the television networks took successful initiatives to provide a framework for advocacy on behalf of the children and for enhancing awareness of the special needs of the children on the part of the deci- sion makers and the public, as well as for mobilizing support for national and local action. Furthermore, the international aspects of the problems of children were reflected in the activities by means of international meetings held in Turkey. The meeting of the Interna- tional Year of the Child Committee of the International Paediatric Association, the annual meeting of the Euro- pean Women's Federation, the meetings and symposia of the International Council of Women, the European Institute of Ecology and Cancer and the european Society for Social Pa-ediatrics were held in Turkey on subjects such as child welfare, today's child and his problems, tumors and cancer in children, and accident prevention among children. 187. These were all initiated in addition to various na- tional and local meetings, competitions, research work, and so on, which left their mark in public life in Turkey. I say this, because it was heartening to see certain con- crete steps taken as a result, even before the Interna- tional Year was over. In this respect I should like to mention a few that are of highest importance. Two new departments were created in the Ministry of National Education which will deal directly with certain special problems of children. New legislation was drafted and submitted to Parliament to cover the education re- quirements of Turkish migrant workers' children, whose number now approaches half a million. A new legislation establishing juvenile courts in the country was similarly presented to the Parliament. 188. In a move, which might perhaps be prejudging a recommendation from this Assembly, the conversion of the Turkish National International Year of the Child Committee into a permanent advisory body was realized in the form of an interministerial co-ordination commit- 189. Finally. the Presidents of both the Turkish Senate and the House of Representatives took the initiative of preparing a bill of amnesty for all convicted children who will be under the age of 16 at the end of 1979. Representatives may recall that they also called upon all States Members of the United Nations to initiate similar action. 190. A preliminary review of the activities carried out individually in each country is sufficient to indicate that the International Year of the Child has served its pur- pose and has givenimpetus to new policies. programmes and other actions that might be taken on behalf of children. As I stated earlier, however, such efforts may provide only partial solutions to the acute problems of children. since these problems are deeply rooted in the economic conditions of the communities. Consequent- ly. they require a joint international attack on the causes of poverty and economic backwardness. an attack that should be comprehensive in scope and massive in scale. and one in which the industrialized countries should be prepared to assume their responsibilities. 191. It is with great reluctance that I add a few words to the statement I have just made. I am given to under- stand that during my absence from this meeting. the representative of the Greek Cypriot people took the op- portunity to inject into this humanitarian venture, in which we are all attempting to co-operate. political attributions, political accusations, falsehoods and repeated lies. This is the usual attitude of the Greek Cypriot usurpers of power on the island of Cyprus. Later in this session, we shall have a full debate on the question of Cyprus, and of course we shall hear the same vituperations, calumnies and unfounded accusa- tions. 192. It should be made known that there are children today who are suffering on both sides in Cyprus, both on the Greek side and on the Turkish side. The liability for that lies on the shoulders of the Greek Cypriot usurpers of power. who started a massacre of children on the island of Cyprus. I remember showing the Securi- ty Council. in 1964, pictures of innocent women and children being massacred in their homes-in their very bathrooms-for no reason at all, except that it was determined that the Turkish community in Cyprus should be annihilated. It was a first attempt at genocide. It was clearly outlined in the Greek Cypriot Press that there was a plan, the infamous Akritas Plan, to eliminate the Turkish community in Cyprus. 193. I apologize once again for having to say these words, but I could not leave these accusations without an immediate response. We shall como back to them at the time of the debate on Cyprus in this Assembly.

It is particularly signifi- cant that the General Assembly at its thirty-third session should have decided, in resolution 33/83. to devote a plenary debate to the International Year of the Child. . 195. Indeed. the problem of children in the world, the problem. of the earliest part of human life-the time when body and mind are not yet fully developed, the 196. It is thus fitting that our Organization, on which the purposes and principles of the Charter have confer- red the lofty and specific task of assisting in elucidating the great questions of our time, questions no State or group of States can answer in isolation, should be seized of the problem of children in the world. 197. Here it is appropriate to recall that the interna- tional community owes this new awareness of the im- portance of the child-both as an integral part of socie- ty and as the future of mankind-to the considerable work done by UNICEF. Indeed. this body has for more than 30 years been engaged in an admirable undertaking on behalf of the world's children, particularly those in developing countries. 198. We take pleasure on the occasion of this debate on the International Year of the Child to reiterate our great gratitude to Mr. Labouisse and his colleagues at Headquarters and in the field for their dedication and their untiring efforts to promote the cause of the child in many spheres, health, food, education and the environ- ment. 199. Mr. Labouisse's constant efforts for the benefit of children and his years of experience in this field have made it possible for the International Year of the Child to give what we hope will be a decisive stimulus to the working out of policies with regard to the child, ones that will be more coherent and better integrated into the development process. 200. Everything points to the fact that the improve- ment of the status of children is inseparable from economic and social development, particularly in the third-world countries. 201. Indeed. we are convinced that the pace of eco- nomic growth depends not only on capital, the fertility of the soil and subsoil resources. but also and above all on the good physical and moral health of mankind. and in particular the young. 202. In Cameroon, 43 per cent of the population con- sists of children under IS years of age, which represents for the near future a heavy burden from the economic point of view while representing. on the other hand, a promise for the future. For this reason, the education and training of young people are a basic factor in our development process. And so my country has one of the highest school-attendance rates in our continent, 72 per cent. 203. Our school-age population is increasing at such a rate that the traditional training structures are con- tinually being overwhelmed and the Government was quick to recognize the need to promote unconventional training programmes in order to prepare young people to enter the production cycle. 204. Our budget for education is larger by far than those of other sectors. 206. Our fourth five-year plan now in the process of being carried out provides for the building and equip- ping of 431 basic health and mothers and child health centres in urban and village centres at a total cost of 1,376 million CFA francs. 207. This same plan provides also for the construction and equipping of centres for training in the household arts, day-care centres and nurseries for a sum of 750 million CFA francs. 208. We have also given particular attention to the sad problem 'of handicapped children. We have spent 240 million CFA francs on building and equipping a voca- tional training centre for blind children. 209. For physically and mentally handicapped chil- dren we have devoted 443 million CFA francs to the building and equipping of two important centres for re- education, wish the co-operation of certain friendly countries. 210. Finally, Cameroon is not immune to the cultural shocks and economic frustrations resulting from the in- ternational situation, so we, too, must face the problem of the disorientation of the young, which is an inevitable result of this state of affairs. 211. In the context of the International Year of the Child, we have submitted to the office of the Secretary- General a detailed report on all the preventive and curative measures which constitute our policy in this respect. 212. In short, the Cameroon Government has adopted a policy firmly based on the protection of the child, his right to live and to physical and moral health. However, despite the national effort, an enormous amount still re- mains to be done. This, unfortunately, is not a unique situation. Various speakers have eloquently shown that the lot of children in the developing countries remains a subject of deep concern. In some regions, no words suf- fice to describe the tragedy of the hundreds of thousands of children who live-or rather, who languish-in conditions of hunger, thirst and destitu- tion. 213. How can we not recall that the number of chil- dren under six years of age without access to health ser- vices is estimated at more than 400 million, and the number of children living in rural areas without drink- ing water is estimated at 300 million? At the same time, 175 million of the 350 million children of primary- school age have practically no opportunity to attend school or benefit from any kind of elementary instruc- tion. 214. To this we should add mention of the number of children dying as innocent victims of absurd conflicts, colonial domination and racist oppression. Thus, it ap- pears that a prerequisite for the improvement of the situation of children in our countries is the elimination of the sources of tension which for the most part have been artificially created by outside Powers. 216. Thus, improving the plight of the world's chil- dren, and particularly of those in the developing coun- tries, is an inseparable component of the problems of liberation and development and is therefore closely link- ed to the greater and more general problem of pro- moting a New International Economic Order which will afford equal opportunities for access to riches and well- being for all. 217. We would agree that improving the situation of children is mainly the responsibility of Governments themselves, and they are making considerable efforts to increase, extend and spread the basic services to children. But these efforts cannot bear fruit in the pres- ent extremely difficult climate, which is marked by a proliferation of political and military conflicts and the persistence of the pernicious effects of world economic recession as well as the constant deterioration of the terms of trade. Nor can they contribute to a substantial improvement of the condition of children until interna- tional economic relations undergo fundamental changes in the direction of equality, justice and solidarity. 218. Therefore, the efforts of Governments, if they are to be successful, must be supported by action taken by the international community as a whole in a spirit of solidarity. To this end, we feel it is more urgent than ever to work towards the reduction of the immense sums spent on arms and channel the resources thus released into economic development and the promotion of peace. 219. There can be no doubt that a significant effort in this area would improve the growth rates of the develop- ing countries, and in so doing it would make operational a wide range of fine projects that have not so far been executed. 220. We must hope that the many appeals made by the General Assembly to this effect may strike a particular chord in this International Year, and that certain coun- tries, particularly those with the largest military budgets, will decide to follow up their declarations of principle with tangible actions. 221. We have already stressed the importance of the work of UNICEF, and we have recorded our apprecia- tion of its activities in promoting basic servies. This necessarily implies continuous world economic growth sufficient to increase national incomes and thus provide the necessary means to satisfy these needs which require such services. 222. Once again we feel it imperative to encourage this new trend in the policy of UNICEF to benefit activities in support of development, including the provision of adequate supplies of drinking water, rural development, the development and dissemination of appropriate technology, the economic advancement of women and mothers, and extra-curricular and adult education. 224. This is a challenge to all mankind, and the stake is our own future. This is a battle which we must not lose.

First of all, allow me to renew the congratulations of the delegation of Democratic Kampuchea, already express- ed by the Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Foreign Affairs of Democratic Kampuchea [26th meeting], upon the unanimous election of Mr. Salim Ahmed Salim as President of this Assembly. I feel convinced that under his wise guidance, the work of our session will be surely crowned with success. 226., To Mr. Kurt Waldheim, our Secretary-General, I should like once more to pay special homage for his steadfast efforts at ensuring peace and security in the world, particularly in South-East Asia, where an ex- plosive situation is now prevailing as a result of the Viet- namese aggression against Kampuchea. 227. May I avail myself of this occasion to convey again to all the representatives here of countries that cherish peace, justice and independence, the cordial greetings and profound gratitude of the people and Government of Democratic Kampuchea for their precious support, which will be much more mighty in the days to come, for our just struggle for the survival of our nation and our people and to ensure that an in- dependent, united, peaceful, neutral and non-aligned Kampuchea will live forever. 228. Children are the most precious asset of every country. They represent the future, those who perpetuate the nation. As such, they must enjoy the right to live not only a decent life but a rich life which will lead them to be in the future the true masters of their own country. In this sense I am grateful to the United Nations for having proclaimed 1979as the Inter- national Year of the Child and for its many initiatives in order to rescue the teeming, helpless children of the poor countries. To the congratulations of other delega- tions, we should like to join our own to Mr. Henry Labouisse and Mrs. Estefania Aldaba-Lim, who have distinguished themselves by their dedicated activities in the service of the International Year of the Child. 229. With other delegations, too, we turn our thoughts to the poor children of countries which have not yet recovered their independence in Africa and the Middle East, and also to the children of Laos and Viet Nam, especially the refugees who are the victims of the most inhuman policy of the Hanoi authorities. 230. As for the children in Kampuchea, while the world is celebrating the International Year of the Child, they are being massacred by the thousands every day by the Vi\~tnamese hordes in the war of aggression and genocide of the Hanoi authorities. 231. My delegation feels deeply moved by the deep concern. so many countries have expressed from this rostrum for the fate of our children now facing death 232. It is a constant policy of the Government of Democratic Kampuchea to give our children a privileged place in our society. Considering them as the most precious asset of our country, those who will preserve and enhance in the future the vitality and identity of our nation, our Government has done its utmost to ensure that children are growing up to be the masters of Kam- puchea. We need children and we care for children, the more so as our country has a very small population for a territory of 181,000square kilometres. Indeed, after the five-year war of liberation, which cost us one million dead and wounded, our country counted 7,800,000 in- habitants. So, to defend our country against the regional expansionism of the Hanoi authorities as well as to build up our devastated country, we need many more people. That is why, since the liberation of our country in 1975, our Government has always pursued a policy of encouragement to raise the birth-rate. 233. To this end, special attention has been paid to pregnant women who, whether they are civil servants, workers or peasants, all enjoy two months of rest before and after delivery with, in addition, a suitable regime of food and work to favour their lactation. 234. We have been trying hard to train nurses and kindergarten teachers for the 30,000 or so villagesin our country so as to provide each villagewith a day nursery. 235.. The former French Calmette hospital, the most beautiful hospital in Phnom Penh, has become our na- tional hospital for children and by 1978, it had been enlarged threefold. As for the former Pasteur Institute at Chhroy Changvar, facing Phnom Penh, it now has many additional buildings and has become a factory producing, in 1978, 24 vaccines including anti- tuberculosis, anti-cholera, anti-smallpox, anti-measles, anti-diphtheria, anti-enteric fever and anti-polio vac- cines for children. We must recall, moreover, that by the end of 1978, malaria-that scourge of our people-was fundamentally eradicated. 236. As a result, from mid-1977 to mid-1978 there were 392,000 births for a population of 7,800,000 in- habita-nts, which means a birth-rate of 50 per thousand, compared with 40 per thousand before the 1970 coup d'etat. 237. Even in our poverty, in the hardship of a post- war situation, we want our children to be healthy in body, in mind and in spirit so that they can grow up to be wholesome and healthy citizens moved by an ardent patriotism and an unswerving will for independence, armed with knowledge and the spirit of international solidarity. 238. Generally speaking, at the end of 1978,before the Vietnamese invasion, all our children, together with all our people, had benefited from free schooling and free 239. The Hanoi authorities have heaped insults upon our children, whom they accuse of being too fond of our Government, because a Kampuchea with healthy and wholesome children, a Kampuchea with an increas- ing population, represents a dreadful obstacle to their criminal, expansionist designs. 240. That is why the Hanoi authorities intensified their activities to sabotage our child policy, in order to check the growth of our population during the three years of our national construction following our libera- tion in 1975. Indeed, concerning our child policy, the slogan of the Vietnamese fifth column agents is "one more Kampuchean baby, one more enemy of Viet Nam". Those secret agents who infiltrated our ranks under the guise of revolutionaries were bent on harming our babies and children. Without let-up they used the vilest means, from dissuasion of women from having babies to outright non-implementation of the social measures recommended by our Government. For exam- ple, instead of lightening pregnant women's labour they gave them heavy work to do. Instead of granting mothers and tbeir babies special food and medical care, they did not care for them at all. They stored away all medicines, sugar and milk sent to villages by our Government, and even went so far as to commit numerous murders by poisoning our babies. This was designed to give rise to dissatisfaction and provoke uprisings which, in the minds of the Vietnamese, should overthrow our Government from within. 241. Those have been the criminal activities of the Le Duan clique through its fifth column during the three years of our national construction since our liberation in 1975. 242. On 6 January 1978 our people and our revolu- tionary army, under the leadership of the Democratic Kampuchea Government, defeated the Hanoi author- ities' first war of aggression, and in May 1978 we crush- ed the Vietnamese fifth column which had infiltrated the country. After these successive failures, the Hanoi authorities signed the military treaty with Moscow on 3 November 1978. It was with vast military assistance from the Soviet Union that, on 25 December 1978, they launched their second war of aggression against Democratic Kampuchea, on a far greater scale than the preceding one. But as the world knows, our people and our revolutionary army, under the leadership of the Government of Democratic Kampuchea, have strongly and valiantly counter-attacked by means of guerrilla warfare and for the past 10 months have succeeded in dragging the Vietnamese aggressors into a protracted war of attrition, to which they now see no end. 243. But, because of the Fascist nature and the genocidal aim of the Vietnamese aggressors, these 10 months have been 10 bloody months when our country has been put to fire and sword, when the whole of Kam- puchea has become the scene of plunder, massacres and starvation caused by the red-handed Hanoi authorities. From their unrelenting scorched-earth policy the weakest - women, old people and particularly chil- dren - suffer the most. 244. The Vietnamese hordes resort to the most in- conceivable means to kill our children. Small babies in 245. I must mention the fate of our wounded, wherev- er they are found - in Phnom Penh hospitals or in the countryside, to which they have been evacuated. The Vietnamese hordes tie them up and throw them alive under their tanks. Even more serious is the fact that the Vietnamese aggressors are now using chemical weapons against our children and people. Their genocidal war, besides bringing to nought all the economic and social achievements of our people, has already created 1 million victims among our fellow citizens. Of these, 500,000 have been massacred and the rest have died from starvation. 246. Those are the terrifying results of 10 months of devastation and massacre on the part of the Vietnamese hordes led by the Hanoi authorities. The Government of Democratic Kampuchea would like to draw the atten- tion of the international community to the fact that the famine deliberately created by the Vietnamese ag- gressors in Kampuchea has a double aim: on the one hand, to break the resistance of the Kampuchean people and 'annihilate all our race, and on the other, to gain recognition for the puppet regime in Phnom Penh by the international organizations through their supplies of humanitarian aid. 247. In view of the monstrous crimes of the Viet- namese expansionists, the Government of Democratic Kampuchea calls on all international organizations and all friendly countries that wish to provide urgent humanitarian aid such as food-stuffs, medicine, clothing and so on, to the children and people of Kam- puchea generally, to do so in such a way that this assistance may directly reach the recipients and not be diverted by the Vietnamese invaders and their puppets in order to strengthen the troops of aggression in massacring Kampucheans, including children. So far, everybody knows that the Vietnamese invaders have seized all humanitarian aid and given the lion's share to their soldiers. 248. The Government of Democratic Kampuchea, the sole legal and legitimate representative of the people of Kampuchea, concerned to ensure the survival of the na- tion and people of Kampuchea, calls on all international organizations and all countries that love peace, justice and independence to provide humanitarian aid to the Kampuchean people. Such aid,if it actually reaches our people, will constitute an effective weapon against the attempts by the Vietnamese aggressors to annihilate the nation and people of Kampuchea. For their part, the Government of Democratic Kampuchea and the Red Cross of Democratic Kampuchea, of which I am privileged to be President, are ready to accept such humanitarian aid with profound gratitude and will make every effort to co-operate in ensuring that all this aid will directly benefit our own children and our own people. 249. Humanitarian aid and assistance will certainly alleviate the incommensurable sufferings of our children and our people, threatened with extermination 250. Today, when we are faced with the escalation of the Vietnamese war of aggression in Kampuchea through their dry-season offensive, it behooves the United Nations and all countries loving peace, justice and independence and devoted to the sacred principles of the Charter to pool their efforts to exercise adequate economic and diplomatic pressures so as to check the dry-season offensive of the Vietnamese' aggressors. In this respect, it is refreshing to see that our Assembly is aware of the fact that the only means to restore peace in Kampuchea, thereby solving at the same time the prob- lem of famine and refugees created by the Vietnamese war of aggression, is to compel Viet Nam to pull its troops and its people's settlements immediately, totally and unconditionally out of Kampuchea. Moreover, the total withdrawal of the Vietnamese troops and people's settlements from Kampuchea is the prerequisite for enabling the people of Kampuchea to solve their inter- nal problems themselves without outside interference, through general and free elections by direct and secret ballot, elections to be supervised by the Secretary- General of the United Nations, in accordance with the political programme of the Front of Great National Patriotic and Democratic Union of Kampuchea. Mr. Tomasson (Iceland), Vice-President, took the Chair. 2S J. We are fully confident that our Assembly will not fail to take concrete measures in that sense in due time. In so doing, our international community can fulfil its duty and its international commitment by saving the children and people of Kampuchea from annih itation. Moreover, once peace and stability are restored in Kampuchea, the international community can rest assured that peace, security and stability will be ensured in South-East Asia and the world, for the common good of the whole of humanity. . 252. Mr. MAITHA (Kenya): Mr. President, I wish to thank you for allowing my delegation this pleasant op- portunity to address the General Assembly on a subject which is of universal concern and which is of central and crucial importance for the development of the future generations of our various nations. 253. No doubt children constitute the most cherished and essential human resource of the future, upon which the whole of humanity depends. The proclamation of the year 1979as the International Year of the Child has served as a catalyst for the focusing of greater attention by the international community on the plight of chil- dren. Hence it is gratifying to note that many countries have formulated policies and programmes aimed at the full development of the inherent potential of children. 254. At this point my delegation wishes to express its appreciation for the work done by the Special Represen- tative of the Secretary-General and by UNICEF and for the role they have played in generating awareness of the question and promoting programmes aimed at improv- ing the welfare of children in all countries. 255. Many children in the developed world have the resources they need in order to grow into healthy, happy and productive citizens. However, there are still millions of children who are seriously deprived of the elementary necessitles of life. Among these are children in the developing countries who live in conditions of abject poverty, inadequate housing, poor health, unsatisfac- 259. In the field of health and nutrition we remain convinced that no family or society can aspire to a full, productive, happy life if it is constantly faced with the fear of sickness, disease or sudden death. It is in this realization that the Kenyan Government has embarked on a comprehensive health and nutrition programme which seeks to strike a balance between curative and less expensive preventive measures. The Government pro- vides these services free of charge. Of significant impor- tance is the rural health programme, which, in the long run, willenable every Kenyan to obtain medical services within a radius of less than two miles, at the nearest health centre. The facilities in these health centres are geared primarily to meeting the health needs of mother and child, to family planning and general health care. With regard to nutrition, we have launched a family life-training programme and a nutrition education cam- paign to help combat the incidence of malnutrition. Further plans are under way to expand the pre-school feeding programmes, which currently care for over 15,000 children. 260. Substandard and unhygienic water supplies are often a major source of health hazards which can lead to the under-utilization of consumed nutrients. The problem is severe for infants at the time that mothers seek to supplement breast milk with ordinary foods. In addition, the scarcity of clean water compounds the problems of young children. For these reasons we have undertaken an ambitious programme to have a clean water supply for every household by approximately the year 2000. 261. The status and needs of women-and their role as educators of children-are closely interwoven with those of the child. This represents one of the crucial, strategic questions in the struggle for progress and the realization of human rights. The problem should be ful- ly recognized and effective programmes formulated and implemented to ensure the full integration of women in development processes. 263. It might not be fair of me not to mention the ar- rangements that my Government has made to ensure the observance of 1979 as the International Year of the Child, and the programmes emanating from it. In the wake of the proclamation of the International Year of the Child, the Kenyan Government established a Na- tional Steering Committee to plan and co-ordinate all activities and programmes of the Year. The President of the Republic of Kenya is the patron of that Committee. Since its inception, the National Committee has under- taken to review, evaluate and co-ordinate existing ser- vices for children, to evaluate and recommend to the Government an over-all policy on children, to examine existing and proposed legislation with a view to giving advice on the best way to deal with the needs and prob- lems of children, to initiate and sponsor various studies on the situation of Kenya's children. The Com- mittee has intensified its work and has developed ac- tivities to enhance the awareness of decision-makersand of the public at large regarding the special needs of children, through radio and television programmes, publications, research reports and through special pro- motion seminars. 264. My delegation wishes and hopes that efforts to improve the welfare of tomorrow's fathers and mothers and leaders will not slacken once the Year comes to an end. We consider that national, regional and interna- tional mechanisms should be established so that the countries of the world could share their experiencesand hence develop plans of action where such plans do not exist, to strengthen and revitalize those that do exist, and to prepare for continuous planned and effective ac- tion for millions of children, those who need help now and those who are still to come. 265. In conclusion, Kenya believes that the observance of the International Year of the Child has increased public awareness of the problems which children face in the world today. Public awareness of the year was great- ly enhanced in Kenya by the Government's offer of free milk to all primary-schoolchildren, commencing during the Year of the Child. We hope that concerted efforts will be undertaken internationally towards the full realization of the rights of the child all over the world.

The General Assembly's debate on the International Year of the Child and on plans and action to improve the situation of children in the world, par- ticularly in the developing countries, is proof that we recognize the basic importance of that item. Resolution 311169, in which the General Assembly proclaimed the year 1979 the International Year of the Child, envisages two basic objectives for that Year: first, to provide a 267. Although the Year has not ended, there is no doubt that its first objective has been successfully achieved. The many reports coming from various Governments and organizations indicate. that the needs and problems of children are now.being debated in an unprecedented way. The International Year of the Child has shown that Governments and organizations are en- thusiastic about contributing to programmes for the benefit of children, which is the second objective of the International Year of the Child. But as usual, the most difficult part is to move from words and good intentions to concrete action at the national and international levels. 268. The Declaration proclaiming 1979as the Interna- tional Year of the Child in Democratic Yemen is a response to the resolution adopted by the General Assembly in December 1976 during its thirty-first ses- sion. If for certain countries such a response marks the beginning of their interest in the question of childhood, for us it represents the finishing touch to what the Yemeni Socialist Party and the State in Democratic Yemen have been doing regarding the protection of children in their upbringing and education and in the health and nutrition of the child and his family. Our Party has stressed in its programme the great impor- tance that should be given to the pre-school develop- ment of children, to kindergartens and to the welfare of mother and child. The new Constitution that was adopted at the end of 1978 affirms the importance of providing a happy life for children as wellas the need to establish the necessary means to make of children the architects of a prosperous future for the nation. The new laws that have been passed, among them a labour law and a law on the family, have stressed the need to provide children with the protection and attention they need and that would guarantee their healthy develop- ment from every point of view,so that they may grow to adulthood with well-rounded personalities and direct the development of their society in the best possible way. Furthermore, this early attention given to children led to the promulgation in May 1974 by the Revolu- tionary Government of Law No. 13 (74) which set up the Supreme Council for Child Welfare as the highest responsible authority for planning and implementing all programmes providing for the welfare of children. The most important provisions of that law are the following: first, co-operation with the Ministry of Health in pro- Viding health care to children and participation in organizing international assistance for that purpose; secondly, the provision of the recreational activities for children and the promotion of their sustained physical, mental, psychological and social growth, in co- ordination with the competent organizations; thirdly, the establishment of nurseries and kindergartens and their supervision of informational programmes for children which should be conceived to servethe interests ofchildren and their national and scientificpreparation, by imbuing them with the national culture and concepts, in co-ordination with the responsible authorities. 270. It has been 11 years since we achieved our na- tional independence, and we can now say that within the limits of my country's potential we have made con- siderable progress in the field of attention to the welfare of children. We now have 34 kindergartens in the gover- norships of the Republic which cater to approximately 17,500children. This daily pedagogic work proceeds ac- cording to the most modern educational methods, and the kindergartens have the necessary educational equip- ment and provide food for the children. They accept children at the pre-primary level and give priority to the children of working mothers. The children are supervis- ed by monitors, most of whom are graduates of teacher- training colleges who attend annual refresher courses. 271. There are also programmes aimed at the further development of kindergartens in Democratic Yemen in order to enable them adequately to carry out the tasks entrusted to them in the educational and social fields. We shall attempt to provide additional means to inten- sify this activity in accordance with the second five-year plan of the State, the implementation of which began this year, At the end of this year we shall establish a nursery for women working in the largest undertaking in the Republic, a spinning and weaving factory. This willbe an experiment that will enable us to draw up pro- granimes for the future based on our country's means. We shall concern ourselves also with the welfare of han- dicapped children after having taken a census to deter- mine their number. We shall make every effort to ex- pand the health services now available to children. 272. The Ministry of Health is at present studying the possibility of publishing a book for families covering the most important topics relating to children from the health point of view and providing the necessary guidelines to be followed by mothers and families. These guidelines will be set out in a simple and clear manner and will be aimed at creating a more healthy and more active generation. Medical specialists in the various fields of health and hygiene will make contribu- tions to this book. 273. In the cultural field we have, for the first time in our history, published magazines for children and set up a puppet theatre, in addition to the many and varied programmes and demonstrations bearing on the educa- tional, social, health and cultural aspects of the life of the child. The State has also published postcards, stamps, posters, booklets and pamphlets and has shown special children's films on television and in the schools as part of its participation in the activities celebrating the International Year of the Child. 274. Our responsibility towards children is indeed im- mense, and its importance derives from the fact that the children of today will be the men and women of tomor- row. Our tomorrow will depend on what we do for them today. The more we devote ourselves to providing them with the services which will assure their sound physical, 275. On the basis of all these concepts, at the initiative and under the supervision of the Yemeni Socialist Youth Federation, the Yemeni Pioneer Organization was established in September 1974 grouping pioneers and young children aged 10 to 15 years with a view to giving them an education based on socialist ethics and training them to be faithful to the cause of the Revolution and the Yemeni Socialist Party. The Yemeni Pioneer Organization is regarded as the pre-eminent school for social and political activity in our country. It is there that the child takes his first steps in the realm of social relations and comes to understand the duties that await him in the future in connexion with the development and prosperity of the nation. One of the objectives of that Organization is, inter alia, to instill the love of country, deepen the spirit of international solidarity with all the children of the world and to study the history of the Yemeni Revolution and bring the artistic and literary gifts of the child to fruition so that they may be placed at the service of social development. 276. The Executive Director of UNICEF, in his report in document A/34/452, has summed up the basic prin- ciples underlying national and international endeavours with regard to children and their needs. Among the most important of these principles is that of the right of the child to grow up in good health, be properly fed, clothed and housed, to be educated, to have access to recreation and sports, to participate as a member of his society in national development and to lead a dignified life and found a family. 277. In spite of the noble character and importance of these principles and the need to implement them to the full, there are unfortunately children in the world-and particularly in the developing countries-who continue to suffer from oppression and social misery and to die of hunger as the result of colonialist, imperialist and racist domination, wars of aggression and the usurpa- tion of national wealth. Until this day there are millions of children on our planet, in Africa, in Asia, in Latin America and elsewhere, who are experiencing life's hardships, fear of the future and the crippling efforts of disease-thanks to imperialist, racist and Zionist policies. The Palestinian children and those of southern Africa, southern Lebanon, Namibia and Zimbabwe still are suffering today, in the shadow of colonial and Zionist occupation, from various forms of repression, terror, imprisonment and racial discrimination, and from apartheid. Their sufferings and their dispersal are a violation of the principles contained in the United Na- tions Charter and the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. It is the duty of the international community to put an end to these flagrant violations of the rights of children in southern Lebanon, in the occupied Arab ter- ritories, in Palestine and in southern Africa. 278. Democratic Yemen is highly appreciative of the efforts made by the United Nations aimed with a viewto liberating children from social misery and loneliness and expresses its solidarity with the struggle of the peoples of the African continent and the people of Palestine, the object of which is to ensure freedom and new prospects of a happy life for children. 280. In conclusion, I should like to express our deep gratitude and thanks for the sincere efforts that have been and are still being made by UNICEF, both in Democratic Yemen and in other countries of the world, to alleviate the sufferings and problems of children and to meet their basic needs. We express our deep gratitude also to the Executive Director of UNICEF and the Special Representative for the International Year of the Child and her colleagues. We appeal to the Govern- ments of the States Members of the United Nations to provide further aid to UNICEF and the other specializ- ed agencies of the United Nations concerned and to co- operate constantly with them with a view to ensuring the success of their efforts and activities and the putting in- to practice of the principles contained in the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, adopted by the United Na- tions in 1959.

In the course of this debate every speaker has attested to the overwhelming success of the International Year of the Child. Should we pause to consider the reasons for this success, we would no doubt find that the fundamental reason is global acknowledgement of the fact that our future rests in the hands of our children. This has not been an inter- national year in which a country could satisfy its political audience by rhetorical support of a liberation struggle where the victims of oppression are far from one's shores. It has not been a year in which the pledge or payment of a voluntary contribution to a just cause has concluded our tangible contribution to that year. Rather, it has been a year in which, robbed of the finger pointing mainly to problems elsewhere, each member of the international community has been called upon to face honestly the situation of the children within its na- tional borders. The call has also been for those in a posi- tion to do so, to give financial and technical assistance to the efforts of developing countries on behalf of their children. 282. This is not to say that my country views the Inter- national Year of the Child as having heralded national and international concern for the welfare of children. Admittedly, many Member States have long-established policies for the proper development of their human resources through satisfactory programmes of educa- tion, health care and other social activities, as well as through the adoption of legislative measures designed to benefit children. For those States, the Year has provided the opportunity to assess their policies and programmes. They must face the question whether all segments of the child population are benefiting from those policies and programmes. Are the needs of ethnic and other minority groups of children being met? Do the children of migrant workers receive the governmental care and at- tention provided for in the over-all policy for children? 284. For Jamaica, the International Year of the Child has enabled governmental and non-governmental organizations to combine their resources and talents to improve the situation of the Jamaican child. Never before has this effort on behalf of our children been so well co-ordinated or claimed such enthusiastic participa- tion by our people. Much of our achievements have resulted from the timeless effort of the National Com- mittee of the International Year of the Child, not only to initiate projects, but also to encourage the participa- tion of service and other non-governmental organiza- tions and to open avenues of communication from village through to national levels. 285. At this point I must express the appreciation of my country for the visit of the Special Representative, MJs. Estefania Aldaba-Lim, to Jamaica when our Na- tional Committee was holding its first formal meeting. f,,'lrs. Aldaba-Lim's total commitment to the objectives of the International Year of the Child, her evident in- terest in the welfare of children in Jamaica and her en- thusiastic approach to her job were an inspiration to the membership of our National Committee. We believe that in the person of Mrs. Aldaba-Lim, the Secretary- General had an effective representative whose role in the success of the Year should not be underestimated. 286. The membership of the Jamaican National Com- mittee is drawn from governmental, quasi-govern- mental and non-governmental bodies. It is chaired by the Minister of State for Children's Affairs and has proved so invaluable to national planning for children that the Government has decided that as of I January 1980, that body will be reconstituted as the National Committee for Child Development. The new body will continue the functions of the International Year of the Child National Committee, retaining similar village, parish and national level structures. It will be responsi- ble for co-ordinating the child-related activities of all governmental and non-governmental bodies; it will in- itiate and encourage the initiation of action on behalf of children and will contribute to the over-all national development planning. 287. A list of the major programmes and activities undertaken in Jamaica is contained in the Directory of National Action for the International Year of the Child. I wish to speak briefly on just two of those activities. 2 See United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organiza- tion, Records of the General Conference, Twentieth Session, vol. I, Resolutions, resolution 3/1.112. 288. The project entitled "Know your handicapped children" is of particular importance. It seeks not only to improve social services for the handicapped, but also to change the largely negative. attitude of many Jamaicans towards handicapped children. This project seeks to generate public awareness of the need to give handicapped children more than sympathy; the need to promote as far as is possible their capacity for personal development. It is also concerned that people become aware of and alert to conditions which can result in handicapping children. Although it is too early to at- tempt to assess the psychological impact of this project, present indications are encouraging. Efforts in thj~ "rea will continue with vigour. 289. Looking back over the past nine and a half months, Jamaica is proud of its achievements on behalf of the child in this period of international focus on children. True, some of the activities planned for the year have not been as successful as expected, but major strides have been made. For the first time, the national five-year development plan has devoted a section specifically to the welfare, protection and development of children, with appropriate budgetary provisions. There are increased budgetary provisions for those children who have become wards of the Government. There has been greater awareness of the needs of children, and this has been specifically reflected in the expansion of existing children's programmes and the implementation of new ones in fufilment of the objec- tives of the Year. This spirit of national commitment to the welfare of children, admittedly further stimulated by the Year, has resulted in an expansion and strength- ening of the national day-care programme and has also resulted in the c-eatlon of new voluntary organizations for the welfare of children. An umbrella body for these voluntary organizations has been formed and is called "Voluntary Organizations for the Upliftment of Children", VOUCH for short. ~90. Jamaica would like to pay a tribute to the work of UNICEF in all matters relating to children. We believe that UNICEF should continue as the lead agency in this field, and that its capacity to respond to the needs of the children of the developing world should be strengthened to cope with the numerous requests for assistance that the success of the International Year of the Child will generate. My delegation therefore joins in the appeal for increased voluntary contributions to UNICEF and expresses its appreciation to those who have pledged increased contributions to that body. 291. It is the view of my Government that the idea of an Inter-Agency Advisory Group to co-ordinate the ef- forts and programmes of the United Nations system on behalf of children is a valuable one, and its benefits 292. The struggle for the rights of children cannot be divorced from the larger struggle for full respect for human rights; for the eradication of racism and apart- heid; for disarmament and the strengthening of interna- tional peace and security; for the establishment of the New International Economic Order. While we prepare to develop our children, should we not be concerned with the legacy we shall leave to them? Viewed in this light, the need to resolve major economic and developmental problems, such as energy, takes on an even greater urgency. We must recognize the need for global solidarity to prevent the creation of conditions that would jeopardize the survival of mankind. 293. In the words of Jamaica's Prime Minister: "The challenge facing us all is to consolidate the gains that have been made and to provide the con- ditions which will ensure that our children grow up to make a sound and meaningful contribution to society. Let us determine to accept this challenge not only in this International Year of the Child, but also in the future."

I should like to express the thanks of the delegation of the Lao People's Democratic Republic for this opportunity to participate in this debate on the problem of children, which is of particular importance to all of us. The fact that the General Assembly proclaimed 1979 as the International Year of the Child and is devoting a plenary debate to that subject is a confirmation of this importance. 295. The International Year of the Child is drawing to its close. If we are to judge by the innumerable reports from Governments and United Nations bodies, as well as from intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, that have been submitted to the Secretariat, all showing keen interest and concern for the needs and problems of children, we can affirm that the International Year of the Child has been completely successful, to the extent that it has achieved its over-all goals as formulated in General Assembly resolution 31/169. In this connexion, my delegation would like to congratulate UNICEF as the body principally responsi- ble, and in particular its Executive Director, Mr. Henry Labouisse and Mrs. Aldaba-Lim, the Secretary- General's Special Representative for the International Year of the Child, as well as all their colleagues, for their dedication and their efforts that have contributed to that success. 296. Like many others, my country participated in the International Year of the Child because it regards the child as the heir, the capital and the most precious future element of the family, the nation and the world. We are therefore prepared, insofar as our means permit, to devote all our efforts to meeting the essential needs of our children in the field of health as well as in the field of education, with a view to improving their well-being. 297. Under the old regime, the position of the majori- ty of children was a precarious one, and their fun- 298. Since the establishment of the Lao People's Democratic Republic in December 1975, the major and constant concern of our Government has been to assist mothers and children to improve their conditions of life. Despite the difficult conditio~s resulting from a l0!lg and disastrous war of aggression and the added afflic- tion of two natural disasters, namely the drought of 1977 and the floods of 1978, our Government embarked on developihg the health and education network throughout the country. Supplies of ~ed~cin~ and medical equipment were sent to dispensaries In Villages and communes and to district hospitals, institutes were established for the training of primary health-care per- sonnel environmental sanitation and malaria-control person~el. latrines were installed for the population of certain rural areas, and creches, day-care centres and hundreds of schools and classrooms have been built. In addition, UNICEF has provided us with school sup- plies, teacher-training equipment, and ~h~ ~eans fo~ the production of school-books, and has Initiated projects for the local production of chalk and teaching materi- als. A massive adult literacy campaign has thus been launched. By the end of 1978 the illiteracy rate had fallen from 60 to 40 per cent, and our Government hopes that by the end of 1989 illiteracy will have been completely eliminated. 299. The examples that I have just mentioned are not exhaustive, and the assistance of the international com- munity, which contributed in part to the fulfilment of these tasks, was greatly appreciated by our people. In this connexion, I would like on behalf of the Govern- ment and people of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, to take this opportunity to thank the interna- tional organizations, and UNICEF in particular, our brother socialist countries and other friendly countries for their generous assistance during this difficult period. 300. The results achieved during the past three years have changed the situation in our country for the better, but they are still insufficient to meet all the needs of our children. Thus, in the framework of the International Year of the Child, our Government, through our Na- tional Commission for the International Year of the Child, and its President, the Vice-Premier and Minister of Education, Sport and Worship, Member of the Polit- buro of the Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, has elaborated a short- and medium-term programme which consists of the follow- ing: commissioning a study of the condition of children in the Lao People's Democratic Republic; constructing and improving the system of creches and nursery schools; opening kindergartens; producing children's 301. All in all, this programme is the continuation of schemes which we consider to be priorities in the pro- gramme now being carried out and to which UNICEF has made a substantial contribution. It is modest in rela- tion to our needs, which are immense, but it does take accoun: of our resources and possibilities, and above all, it provides the necessary basis for our future social development. 302. Indeed, in establishing the Lao People's Demo- cratic.Republic, the Lao people elected to build a new society and to educate a new kind of man: the socialist society and the socialist man. We are fully aware that this is a long and arduous task. We must begin by taking care of the pregnant woman, the mother and the child at every stage from conception to birth. We have to develop a network of day-care centres and nursery schools and provide them with a sufficient number of staff. We must develop primary schools in the villages, taking particular account of the mountainous regions so that school-age children of different ethnic groups can receive education. We have to create favourable condi- tions to ensure that children completing their primary schooling can go on to secondary education without hindrance, according to the needs of the country. 303. In order to carry out these tasks, it is the duty of parents to co-operate with the day-care centres, the nursery schools and the regular schools at all levels in order to educate the children. In other words, it is necessary fOT there to be close co-operation between school, family and social organizations. At school, the teachers are responsible for the education of the children; in the family, this responsibility falls on the parents, and in the social organizations, it is those who are in authority in those organizations who are responsi- ble for it. 304. This is a difficult and long-term task and we are short of the material and financial resources necessary for its completion; above all, we lack the necessary ex- perience. That is why we rely to a considerable extent on international co-operation, both bilateral and multi- lateral, in order to benefit from the experience of other countries in this field. We also hope that UNICEF will continue to assist us in this task. Be that as it may, we for our part will do everything in our power with the resources we have available to bring the tasks we have set ourselves to a successful conclusion in order to create favourable conditions for ensuring a happy future for our children. 305. In 'his connexion, my delegation considers that the exan \' ution of the question of a convention on the rights of the child by this session of the General Assembly is most appropriate and timely.

I am happy to be speaking here on this occa- sion, which is dear to us all, and to salute, through this international gathering, the persons present here as representatives of the.aspirations of the third world and 307. We are meeting today in this important forum in order to affirm to children wherever they are our great concern for their future and to express our will and determination to see to it that their rights are recognized and to ensure that they shall grow up in an atmosphere of love and co-operation based on justice and peace. Children are born free and innocent, knowing nothing of repression, oppression, slavery or deprivation until they become part of mankind. Then they find misery or happiness" depending upon the conditions in which they live and the difficulties they have to face. That is why the cause of the child, whose Year we are now cele- brating, depends unquestionably on the happiness of mankind, its progress and its stability. Moreover, it is a fundamental and integral part of it. That is why we were happy to note the many programmes that have been set up in this International Year of the Child, as outlined in document A/34/452 and Add.I, whether in areas within the scope of UNICEF or through other United Nations institutions, as shown in reports included in UNICEF documents. I should like to mention in particular docu- ment E/ICEF/Misc.324, which contains the text of the message sent by the President of the Republic of Iraq on 1 January 1979 to the children of the world on the occa- sion of the inception of this International Year of the Child. In that message the President confirmed the warm welcome given by my country to the resolution in which the General Assembly at its thirty-first session decided to celebrate the International Year of the Child. He also affirmed that the Revolutionary Government of Iraq considers the child to be a precious treasure deserv- ing of all care and attention, and that in our country over the past 10 years, since the revolution of 19 July 1968, the child has received increased attention. 308. In its economic and social development plan, the Iraqi Government has devoted considerable attention to the development of the child and has instituted many important programmes for the training of children en- suring for them the protection they require and enabling them to become creative people. In this way the Iraqi child, the man of the future, through his steadfastness and determination, will promote the progress of his country and the achievement of its national aspirations and hopes. 309. Since the success of the revolution of 1968, my Government has examined and revised all the Iraqi laws and regulations, with a view to increasing the effec- tiveness of the laws protecting the rights of the child, freeing him from deprivation and oppression, setting him on the right path which will enable him to be self- reliant and in the future to serve his family and work with others of his generation for the progress of his country. The new Iraqi laws provide for the care of children and the security of the mother, with free medical treatment. They allow working women two and a half months of maternity leave at full salary, before and after giving birth. 310. The new Iraqi laws have also increased the allowances paid to employees and workers for their children, so that the children are brought up in good 311. The laws stress that the employment of children and young people is prohibited in accordance with the ILO Constitution and the ILO Convention concerning the Minimum Age for Admission to Employment 3, and specify severe punishments for those who contravene such agreements. There are prohibitions against the consumption of alcohol by children under 18 years of age and new severe penalties ha.vebeen imposed to deal with drug users and dealers. The legislation imposes on the mass media the responsibility of upholding moral values and ensuring that no immoral programme or topic is shown to children, corrupting their thoughts and actions. 312. I should like here to stress particularly the educa- tion programme implemented by my Government, pro- viding free education from nursery school, through primary and secondary education to university. The Ira- qi Government also assumes full responsibility for the provision of school books and other school equipment. 313. School meals are also provided, and the school meal programme has been considerably expanded. In 1971-1972, 4,247 pupils received school meals; in 1978 the number had risen to 1,132,563 pupils. The budget allocation for school meals has increased to more than SUS 30 million per year. Since education isthe basic ele- ment in the training and mental growth of children, the Iraqi Government introduced legislation making educa- tion compulsory. That legislation came into force in 1978. It also set up a committee to regulate the im- plementation of this law, under the supervision of the President of the Republic of Iraq. The purpose of this compulsory education campaign is to eliminate all vestiges of illiteracy and to prepare the coming genera- tion in the best possible way to enable it to take its place among the peoples of the developed world and to con- tribute, in cultural and other fields, to economic and social progress. Under this law parents are required to enter their children in schools at the age of six years, and there are penalties for non-compliance with that. law. The law also lays emphasis on the education of parents and all adults under 40 years of age and we hope, by vir- tue of that law, within a period of 36 months to eradicate all vestiges of illiteracy and cultural backward- ness in Iraq. 314'. It may be relevant here to refer in particular to the importance acquired by the educational programme which has allowed the extension of nursery schools, which are still at the experimental stage, so that this year they can accommodate more than 150,000 children. During 1978 the number of pupils in primary schools rose to 2,459,870 pupils. 315. At the same time, in the 10 years since the revolu- tion of Iraq, the number of hospitals and health centres has risen to 200, with a total of 24,697 beds, in addition to 1,000 beds in the people's clinics. The health pro- gramme aims at eradicating disease which formerly was the child's constant companion from birth. 316. My Government celebrated the International 3 International Labour Office, Official Bulletin, vol. LVI, 1973, series A, No.1, Convention No. 138. 317. Nevertheless, we do recognize that what has been achieved until now meets few of our concerns and aspirations. Ours is a long and hard road requiring work and patience in carrying out all the plans that have been drawn up not only to give the Iraqi child the opportuni~ ty to catch up with the children of the developed cou.n- tries, which, through the economic and natural Cir- cumstances of their advanced society, have made progress in many important ~spects of their .daily l!ves, but to enable him to play an Important role In all fields of activity. 318. My country's needs are many and we must th~re­ fore give increasing attention to the task of expandl.ng social services for children. Our needs are a relative reflection of the rate of progress achieved by the fam,ily in ensuring its livelihood and progress. We must also in- crease our nurseries and kindergartens in order to cater for all the children of working women. These nurseries and kindergartens must be situated in places close to their place of employment so that working mothers may feel secure about the comfort and health of their children. 319. In spite of the fact that we hav~ extensively I?ro- vided clothing, food and toys for children at n?mmal prices- an activity which has b~en e~panded dUrIng the International Year of the Child - In many cases the governmental organizations have been obliged to meet the difference in price because these goods are s?ld at less than cost price in order to ensure that our children have sufficient clothing and good food. 320. However, more must be done to increase. the numbers of housing units for all classes o~ our ~ocl~ty. We must build more schools ~nd edu.cabo.nal I~St1tu­ tions through popular constructIOn projects m which all classes of society take part and through the use of pre- fabricated buildings, a method we have adopted since 1976. If we do all this, the problem may well be solved before long. 321. As we celebrate this unique ?ccasion .and review the achievements of the United NatIOns and Its Member 322. It iII becomes the advanced countries, where per capita income has risen to more than $12,000 a year, to increase their material wealth and food supplies while the stomachs of children in Bangladesh, Kampuchea, Palestine and South Africa remain empty. These children suffer from nomelessness, disease and poverty in countries where per capita inpome does not exceed $100 a year. 323. The responsible work done by UNICEF, UNESCO, WHO and FAO is far-ranging because these organizations contribute to helping childre~ and supply- ing them with their needs, such as foo~! ml1k, cIothl,ng, education and culture as well as medlcme and medical treatment. 324. However, these important internatio.nal organ- izations remain powerless in the face of the dIseas~s that are decimating children. Yet the advanced countrIes are bent upon hoarding their wealth, and they refuse to assume any direct responsibility in .helping to allevi~te the sufferings of the needy and the Sick. Instead they in- sist on supplying the racist an? ag~ressive re~imes with mass destruction weapons which Will extermmate those children and their parents. 325. The situation faced by children in countries still living under the yoke of occupation, imperialism and racial discrimination is most distressing, and must be remedied during this 'International Year of the Child. Why should the children in occupied Palestine, Rhodesia and South Africa who are suffering and who, together with their parents, are enduring great hardship be prevented by occupation a~d by ~rutal, .immoral a~d inhuman practices from shanng, With their paren.ts, m the happiness of this International Year of the Child? 326. We must in this International Year of the Child, appeal to the ~onscienc~ of the United Nations an.d through it to that of Its Member States and their peoples, td encourage the!ll to participate in ~he action to give these unhappy chtldren the opportunity to feel stability and happiness. By supporting the struggle of their parents for a decent livelihood, for freed~m ~nd liberation of their countries and for self-determmatIon we can ensure that progress is not restricted to the developed countries and their children. 327. In spite of the fact that my c(;>untry is still co.n- sidered to be a developing country, It has, through Its commitment to solidarity with the developing countries in their crisis of hunger and poverty, provided. nearly $1,250 million in various types of loans. ThIS sum amounts to more than 10 per cent of the annual budget of Iraq, and is probably the highes~ paid by.any country in terms of its income and economic condltJons. 329. In conclusion, I should like to express our solidarity with any action the United Nations may decide upon in the context of its child care activity. We are prepared' to work under any circumstances towards implementation of the relevant resolutions and recom- mendations adopted by the General Assembly and other organizations or specialized agencies. In particular we support the draft resolution now before the General Assembly in document A/34/L.4.

The declaration of the year 1979as the International Year of the Child marked a watershed in the advancement of the welfare of future generations. It was an imaginative as it was realistic. What is at stake is how we are to improve the lot of the child all over the world. This is a noble goal to which all nations should rededicate their resources and energies, for it is more worth-while to spend money on the child than on death-dealing arms. 331. On behalf of the Zambian delegation, I wish to thank the Secretary-General and his staff, and in par- ticular the Executive Director of UNICEF for his report on plans and action to improve the situation of children in the world, particularly in developing countries [A/34/452 and Add.I]. From the report it is evident that the world community is seriously concerned about the well-being of the child. My country attaches great importance to the improvement of conditions for the child, as is shown by its strong support for the Interna- tional Year of the Child. 332. Zambia's concern for the betterment of the con- ditions of the child has repeatedly been demonstrated at the highest level in various statements which have been made by my President, Mr. Kenneth Kaunda. For ex- ample, on Christmas Eve last year, the President spoke very strongly about the need for all to accord particular attention to the needs of the child. During his speech to the nation Mr. Kaunda, who is patron of the Interna- tional Year of the Child in Zambia, called upon all the organizations that provide services to the child to focus attention on the special needs of children and their rights. 333. Indeed, long before the International Year of the Child was declared, Zambia had realized that its future depended on the physical and mental well-being of children. Programmes in the fields of health, education and many other sectors took into account the interests ofour young ones. In response to the International Year of the Child, Zambia has worked out many programmes in various fields which are specifically designed to benefit the child. To this end, the Zambia National Commission for the International Year of the Child, in conjunction with other relevant bodies in the country, is engaged in implementing plans and programmes for the benefit of the child. 334. Since independence, the Zambian Government has invested a substantial sum of money in education in order to facilitate child development. Universal primary education and primary health care are among zambia's 335. Similarly, the Zambian Government has embark- ed on a number of programmes aimed at improving the physical health of the child. For example, the National Council for Scientific Research, in collaboration with the National Food and Nutrition Commission, has developed Nurifax, a weaning product for children be- tween the ages of six months and two years. Other pro- grammes include the evaluation and development of nutrition rehabilitation centres and the maternal and child health programmes. 336. Nutrition rehabilitation centres are small com- munities in rural and urban areas to which mothers with children who have received treatment for malnutrition or who are identified as being at risk of developing severe malnutrition are referred. During this time the mother is given instructions on the correct feeding anu care of her child. In addition, a number of topics related to the health of the child are also taught. 337. The maternal and child health programme in Zambia is mainly directed at mothers and the pre-school age group. Here again, more attention is given to im- proving the health. of the children. It is hoped that in this way children will receive the health attention they require for their optimum physical, intellectual and social development. 338. We are aware that there is a close relationship between the health status of the mother and that of the child. Accordingly, zambia is working out measures to improve the condition of mothers. As a contribution to the International Year of the Child, and indeed as part of its obligations as a member of the ILO, Zambia is taking steps to ratify the ILO Convention No. 103, con- cerning maternity protection". In addition, the Zambian Government is working out measures to implement fully a water supply project for rural communities. Responsi- ble organs of Government are devising detailed plans for hand-pump wells. 339. I wish to stress that Zambia willcontinue to do its best to meet the demands of the child in response to the programme called for in the International Year of the Child. The Zambia National Commission for the Inter- national Year of the Child, a body responsible for stimulating, co-ordinating and planning activities for the year, has done a considerable amount of work and is continuing to discharge its responsibilities in order to fulfil the two general obiectives set out in General Assembly resolution 31/169. The outline of pro- grammes which are being worked out by the Govern- ment is evidence of my country's commitment to im- proving the situation of children in Zambia. .. See International Labour Organisation, Conventions and Recom- mendations adopted by the International Labour Conference. 1919-1966(Geneva, International Labour Office, 1966). 341. Since the improvement of the situation of chil- dren in developing countries depends on the general economic and social development of those countries, Zambia, as a developing country, calls upon the developed countries to increase their financial aid and other forms of assistance to, and to devise favourable terms of trade with, the developing countries, par- ticularly in the case of commodities which are intended for child consumption. The reduction, or even removal, of tariffs on goods from the developing countries that compete on favourable terms with goods in the devel- oped countries would go a long way towards improving the general economic and social conditions in the developing countries. 342. Finally, I am pleased to inform the Assembly that Zambia has joined in sponsoring draft resolution A/34/L.4/Rev.l, and supports the amendments by Nigeria in document A/34/L.S. The draft resolution contains elements which can only further the cause of the International Year of the Child.

This debate on the International Year of the Child gives us all an opportunity to dwellon the analysis of a very important subject. A number of represen- tatives of democratic countries who have preceded me at this rostrum have shared with us their views on the liv- ing conditions of children in their own countries, on the efforts being made to improve those conditions and on the difficulties and problems that have to be overcome. But they have also and above all stressed the fact that millions of children, particularly in Africa, Asia and Latin America, grow up in intolerable conditions and are beset by hunger, disease, illiteracy and all kinds of abuses. 344. We sympathize with the struggle and the efforts of all people who seek to put an end to the privations and sufferings which affect the livesand personalities of children. We understand from our own experience the importance of that struggle for freedom, independence and the progress of each nation. 345. Prior to the liberation of our country, when we wereplunged into poverty and want because of exploita- tion, foreign oppression and reactionary regimes, chil- dren were at the mercy of all kinds of suffering, il- literacy and disease. The birth of a child in a worker's family served only to worsen that family's wretchedness. 346. But today all that is only a bitter memory of the past. Today the children in socialist Albania represent that segment of the population that one might call privileged. That is one of the greatest achievements and a matter of the greatest satisfaction to our people. With the victory in our struggle for national liberation and the triumph of the people's revolution 35 years ago, there began a process of revolutionary political, 347. Socialist legislation in Albania takes under its aegis the education of children and minors. The Con- stitution of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania contains a number of provisions devoted to the rights of children. The Constitution stipulates, in explicit terms: "Mothers and children shall enjoy particular care and protection .. . The State creates maternity homes as wellas'nurseries and kindergartens . . . Or- phans without support are brought up and educated by the State . . .". In accordance with the Marxist-Leninist line of the Par- ty, our State has adopted laws and set forth standards that assure children of every opportunity for learning, of developing their talents and of becoming citizens worthy of their country. The law on social insurance en- sures the most favourable conditions for mothers and children. The State takes particular pains constantly to improve the conditions of life and the education of children. All possible material means, whether social, scientific or cultural, are afforded to children so that they may be born and grow healthy in mind and body, so that they may receive a proper education, in accor- dance with their talents and so that they may best serve society and the family. In the most backward regions of the country there are today maternity homes and pre- natal dispensaries. Paediatric services have made par- ticular progress. Nurseries and kindergartens have been set up all over, in town and country alike, to ensure that children are wellcared for and receivepre-schooleduca- tion, and to allow their mothers to participate actively in the work of socialist construction of the country. 348. The school doors are open wide for all children. No child is deprived of eight years of education. Once that period of schooling has ended, all possibilities are open to students to continue their secondary and univer- sity education. Thousands of children from 6 to 14years of age go to special establishments known as pioneer palaces to spend their free time or to acquire familiarity with various activities in the fields of science, the arts and sports. As they are instructed and amused, they have the assistance of specialists in order to discover their potential. The best bathing spots and tourist at- tractions are made available above all to children; there they spend pleasant and very useful holidays at the ex- pense of the State. 349. An enormous amount of educational work is car- ried out by means of the radio, television, the press and publications. Film makers, writers and publishers devote a major portion of their creative activities to 350. One of the pillars of all work for the edification and training of the youthful generation is the family. The Party and State authorities attach particular impor- tance to the strengthening of family ties and to the role of the family as the true centre of the revolutionary education of children. The family and the school col- laborate closely in discharging their duty, namely, to raise and educate citizens worthy of our socialist socie- ty. 351. The intense, vast and multiform work done in our country is intended to bring up children under the best possible material conditions and to educate a new generation in keeping with our new society in the spirit of the collectivity and of proletarian internationalism. Children are taught to respect and to appreciate all that can be done in a progressive world and to be at one with their young brothers and sisters in a world that aspires to a better future in freedom and independence. 352. The struggle and the efforts to save millions of children from famine, from suffering and from death are quite justifiably something of concern to all peoples and to progressive public opinion and impose the need to draw conclusions from the shameful situations that exist at present in other countries and to find ways of redressing them. 353. We believethat it would be illusory and in vain to try to imagine a solution of the problems of children without taking into account the over-all factors that operate in the international arena and in particular countries and that cause all the troubles from which peoples and the working classesin many countries of the world are still suffering. We are firmly convinced that the struggle to improve or to save the lives of children and to provide them with the means of learning, of working and of living must necessarily imply the solu- tion of the great paradoxes of today that pit one against the other oppressors and oppressed, exploiters and ex- ploited, the imperialists, socio-imperialists and reac- tionaries of the world and the peace-loving peoples. 354. Children in Africa, in Asia and in Latin America are suffering and dying because numerous countries in those regions or in other regions are still facing dif- ficulties created by the long colonial domination and foreign exploitation and by the policy of economic, cultural and military aggression practised by the super- Powers and imperialist Powers. The capitalist monop- olies, the multinational corporations and the im- perialist Powers continue to suck the blood of the peoples. The most cruelly exploited are the children. Many children are forced to work for practically nothing at times when their parents are unable to find work and swell the ranks of the unemployed both in the industrialized and in the developing countries. Increas- ingly, many children, even in countries which pride themselveson having a high standard of living, still lack the necessary livelihood and lead a wretched life because 356. While mankind is confronted with a problem of such importance as ensuring the life and future of children, the American imperialists, the Soviet socio- imperialists and other imperialists still continue to prepare for war and for death, pursuing their arms race at the same time as they encourage and incite many countries to buy weapons and to undertake adventurist conflicts and quarrels and to neglect the solution of problems whereby they could help their peoples. 357. The enemies of the freedom and independence of peoples, the super-Powers and other imperialist Powers, as well as t~_e reactionary regimes, do not spare any ef- fort to camouflage their designs and their aggressiveac- tivity by intense propaganda with regard to their pretended intentions and actions which they claim are aimed at helping to solve problems relating to the life and education of millions of children in the developing countries. But they willin no way be able to succeed any longer, even in this field. The peoples are becoming in- creasingly aware that their lives and freedom as well as those of their children can be ensured only if they under- take a resolute struggle against imperialism, social- imperialism, colonialism and neo-colonialism. 358. Facts have already proved and daily confirm that the problems of the child with which many countries and peoples are confronted cannot be solved by a few paltry philanthropic gestures or by a few acts of charity on the part of the rich countries, nor can these problems be solved by certain superficial changes or reforms. The road to their solution can be found only throu ....'" strug- gle and profound revolutionary changes and In an ad- vanced society where all types of oppression and ex- ploitation are done away with.

The truly enlightening debate that has been held thus far has shown us clearly the broad and favourable welcome that the international community has given the initiative adopted by this Organization whereby 1979 was declared the Interna- tional Year of the Child. Clear proof that that welcome was equally great in Spain was the fact that the com- memoration was placed under the eminent patronage of His Majesty Don Juan Carlos I and that the National Commission that has co-ordinated and encouraged the different commemorative activities in Spain was presid- ed over by Her Royal Highness the Infanta Dofia Margarita. 361. The debate has also shown that, when dealing with subjects that seem to have a specific and concrete limit, we are nevertheless touching the very substance, the true root, of much more general and fundamental problems. And this is the case with the very rapid outline of the situation of the child all over the world that has been given by previous speakers. 362. The basic problem of development, the diversion of economic funds from their normal uses to serve egotistical purposes, the lack of respect for human rights, the zones of conflict and tension, racial or ideological discrimination-all these are problems fac- ing this Organization, and yet all have a direct repercus- sion on situations that have their greatest impact on the children of the world. 363. The International Year of the Child could not have passed unnoticed by the Spanish authorities or Spanish society, which is today undergoing a process of transformation towards a path unequivocally heading towards a more just and free organization. 364. There are moments in the history of peoples in which the coincidence of events offers a solid basis to build a better future, and this has been the case for Spain, where the celebration of the International Year of the Child has had as its first and perhaps most impor- tant step the approval of a new Constitution for Spain, which was adopted in December 1978 and is now in force. This fact helped the work of the Spanish leg- islators who elaborated and developed our Constitution and were thus able to present us with results on the very threshold of the International Year of the Child. In fact, article 39 of the present Spanish Constitution -and this is perhaps one of its most significant innova- tions-establishes, with the highest priority that the law of a country can confer, the legal framework for an over-all and comprehensive protection of the child. 365. In accordance with article 39, it is provided that: "I. The public authorities shall assure social, economic and legal protection to the family. "2. The public authorities shall also assure the full protection of children, who shall all be equal before the law regardless of their parentage, and of mothers, regardless of their marital status. The law will allow !he investigation of paternity. 366. This over-all protection of children in the Spanish Constitution from the very outset was not a simple statement of principles. Effective implementation was immediately undertaken. Despite the heavy agenda which, inevitably, the Parliament and the Government of Spain have before them in constitutional develop- ment, one of the subjects that had already been tackled is that of the definition of the civil rights of the child in a draft reform of our old Civil Code, which was still based on the individualistic principles of the nineteenth century, and reforms which, after being prepared by the Government, will in due course be submitted to both Houses of Parliament. 367. We cannot overlook the fact that, if there is one element that serves to delimit a concept of childhood, it is that of the entitlement to rights limited as to the possibilities of their effective exercise, an entitlement which is therefore especially fragile and tenuous. Thus we must consider that over-all protection of the child must begin by giving a precise definition of the rights of the child and the duties to the child. That legal protec- tion cannot be achieved unless it be witl-inthe nucleus to which the child belongs, namely, the family, and the world "family" taken in its natural meaning. Thus the rights of the child, the rights and the duties of the parents, with or without the matrimonial link, the pro- tection of the State of this nucleus of rights and the vigilance of the State for those obligations constitute the first step in the constitutional development that has been carried out in Spain. This was a development which, on the other hand, takes well into account the minor in all his rich and profound personal circum- stance, considering him as an individual free of any out- side conditioning by the family or by the State itself. The setting aside of an exclusively individualistic con- cept or of the destruction of the individual to favour the community are principles that inspired this develop- ment. 368. After determining the legal framework in which the rights of the child belong, the second field of action in developing constitutional principles must inevitably be that of education. For this reason, among the basic concerns facing the Spanish Ministry of Education is found, like the common denominator of all the others, precisely the protection of the education of the child. The general inspiration of the policy based on con- sideration of the right of everyone to education is also tending to that same aim, as is the obligation of the State to give that education and protect its development. The Spanish Ministry of Education in the specific field of education of the child has planned to establish before the end of 1979 800,000 places in schools, and to in- crease by up to 15,000 the number of teaching posts for teachers of basic education, with an increase in salaries, the inauguration of a national centre for out-of-school education for those who, because they are far from teaching institutions, are in even greater need of suitable means to secure an education. 369. The teaching authorities in Spain have devoted a substantive and important part of their efforts and 370. Among these publications, we could not omit mention of the book £1 derecho a una infancia feliz ("The Right to a Happy Childhood") which, because of the variety and the wealth of its content, we have no hesitancy in regarding as one of the most important achievements of the International Year of the Child. 371. We would not wish to extend this statement into a lengthy enumeration of the activities carried out in Spain in many and varied fields. Perhaps it is not necessary to refer individually to each and everyone carried out to commemorate the International Year of the Child. All those who have visited Spain in the course of this Year will have noted the presentation of various theatrical works for children in the parks, as well as ex- hibitions of children's drawings, designs and paintings, sports events and so on. All have been a constant part of our daily life. I shall not detain the meeting by referring to work carried out by the national commission which has been entrusted with overseeing the commemoration. These matters have already been included in the documentation submitted by Spain to the General Assembly. 372. I shall not dwell on the range of activities which may have been enumerated. I hope that it willsuffice if I cite only a few examples, some of which are somewhat anecdotal but with an endearing feeling of warmth. I refer to the widespread undertaking to increase "pen pal" programmes between Spanish children and children of other countries. 373. Other examples, which may be less outstanding and less well known but which are equally deep in their value and in their social sense, are the creation and ex- pansion of nurseries in the more isolated rural areas and the setting up of training courses in child nutrition and health. Those courses have been given in hamlets and villagesthat are almost completely isolated, far from the main cities and highways. 374. There have been other activities in which we have borne very much in mind the international nature of this commemoration. The day of 26 October in all teaching centres in Spain will be the school day to commemorate the International Year of the Child. We intend to organize an ·international congress on the child in co- operation with UNESCO. Spanish television services have made four films in four different continents on the specific subject of children all over the world. 37S. I wish to assure the meeting that Spain-its men, its institutions and its regions-this year has wished to redouble its attention to the needs of the children. This has been done in the hope that one day we shall be able to hand on to them the torch of our old culture and our youthful hopes. In so doing, we must always bear in mind the fact that all children in the world deserve the same attention. 3'77. Mr. EVRIVIADES (Cyprus): I did not intend to take up the precious time of this meeting to refute the self-servingeffusions of the Turkish representative, who was no doubt responding to my statement because of a guilty conscience. But the representative of Turkey had the audacity to accuse my Government" of commit- ting genocide. Who the originators and practitioners of genocide in the twentieth century are is a well-known and documented fact. No amount of Orwellian "double-think" or "double-talk" can do away with the fact that it was Turkey which took up the crime of genocide as a State policy in the holocaust of the Arme- nian people. To date, the atrocities of the Turkish oc- cupation forces against my people are once again a mat- ter of public record. They have been documented and published by no less eminent a body than the Commis- sion of Human Rights of the Council of Europe. 378. The violation of my country's sovereignty and the continued occupation of a large part of its territory is a well-known fact, and numerous resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council, adopted by an overwhelming majority, condemn it. 379. Actions speak louder than words, and in the case of Cyprus the facts speak for themselves. The truth of the matter is that, while paying lip-service to the prin- ciples of the United Nations Charter, and while even voting in favour of resolution 3212 (XXIX), Turkey is at the same time flagrantly violating the aforementioned principles by continuing its occupation of a State Member of the United Nations with an expeditionary force of 40,000 troops. 380. The representative of Turkey also referred to me as the representative of the Greek Cypriot people and not of the Republic of Cyprus. It appears that he is unaware of the simple fact that only sovereign Member States can participate fully in the deliberations of the General Assembly. Therefore, I avail myself of this op- portunity so to inform him and thus fill a gap in his knowledge. 381. In conclusion, my delegation's statement on the item before the meeting was made simply to inform this Assembly about the plans and actions undertaken by my Government to improve the situation of the children of Cyprus, and the difficulties and problems which it is en- countering in the process.

Despite the late hour, I should like to say a few words in connexion with the slanderous attack made on my country by the representative of Albania. In regard to the policy of a State or Government, one judges primarily by deeds rather than words. I know of no State which has struggl- ed as actively and consistently as has the Soviet Union to preserve peace, to maintain security, to curb the arms race and to achieve general and complete disarmament. 383. All the efforts and aspirations of our Govern- ment are aimed at the strengthening of peace, not the preparation of war. That is why I wish most decisively to refute the deliberate lies and slanderous attack made on my country by the representative of Albania. Themeeting rose at 9 p.m.