Children often bear high cost of armed conflicts, poverty: Assembly promotes rights, ensures their tomorrows.

Economic marginalization, along with the devastations of armed conflict, are "casting a shadow over the future of nations by depriving millions of children of the right to develop normally in mind and body", asserts The State of the World's Children 1995, published annually by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).

In the wars of the last decade--a series of catastrophes that includes Rwanda, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mozambique, Angola, Somalia, the Sudan, Afghanistan, Cambodia and Haiti--far more children than soldiers have been killed and disabled, according to the report. In just ten years, approximately 2 million children have died in wars and between 4 million and 5 million have been physically disabled.

"These are statistics of shame. And they cast a long shadow over future generations and their struggle for stability and social cohesion", asserts the report. "More quietly, the continued economic and social marginalization of the poorest nations, and of the poorest communities within nations, is depriving far larger numbers of children of the kind of childhood which would enable them to become part of tomorrow's solutions rather than tomorrow's problems."

Profoundly concerned by the continuing deterioration of the situation of children in many parts of the world, the Assembly on the recommendation of the Third Committee asked (resolution 49/209) Member States and UN agencies to facilitate the extension of humanitarian relief and assistance to children in armed conflicts and the immediate aftermath of such conflicts.

Graca Machel, an expert appointed by the Commission on Human Rights to conduct a study on the impact on children of armed conflicts, told the Third Committee that the international community must collectively fashion a response to the children "whose tiny corpses, wounded bodies and fractured psyches were marking the landscape of humanity".

According to a report of the Secretary-General (A/49/643), Ms. Machel's study was mandated to recommend to the international community action relating to: protection of children; the impact of the indiscriminate use of weapons; and physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration.

The Assembly also expressed deep concern at the growing number of incidents related to the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (49/210), and at reports of street children being involved in and affected by serious crime, drug abuse, violence and prostitution (49/212). Governments were strongly urged to take urgent measures to prevent these abuses.

Emphasizing the importance of full implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Assembly urged States that had not done so to sign, ratify or accede to it as a matter of priority, with a view to reaching universal ratification by 1995.

RELATED ARTICLE: Family Conference urges long-term action

In the wake of the International Year of the Family 1994, which stimulated worldwide debate on the role of the family in modern human society, the General Assembly convened on 18 October in New York the International Conference on Families to discuss the activities in observance of the Year and directions for a draft plan of action for the fiftieth Assembly.

Its three main areas are: questions of gender equity; the rights of the child; and inter-generational issues.

Participants, including many ministerial-level delegates, heard of hundreds of activities, including not only promotional efforts, but also substantive family-oriented programmes, undertaken during the Year in scores of countries. For example, some countries now have Government ministries devoted to the family, some have passed special family-oriented legislation, and some have transformed international coordinating bodies for observance of the Year into permanent organizations. without conditions or prejudices" for the promotion, protection and effective enjoyment of human rights by all.

During visits to numerous countries, the High Commissioner had raised issues relating to the promotion of the rights of women, the status of minorities and non-citizens, the legal status of refugees and asylum seekers, and the rights of children. Special attention was paid to the rise in xenophobia and new forms of racial and ethnic discrimination. The importance of universal ratification of key human rights instruments and implementation of the right to development had been stressed.

The Assembly welcomed (49/178) all measures the human rights treaty bodies might take in response to situations of massive human rights violations, including bringing those violations to the attention of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Secretary-General and UN human rights bodies.

The Assembly expressed (49/175) deep concern at the growing manifestations of racism, xenophobia and other forms of discrimination and inhuman or degrading treatment directed against migrant workers in different parts of the world. Member States were asked to consider signing and ratifying or acceding to the 1990 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families as a matter of priority and to become parties to the 1984 Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (49/177).

Other action

In other action, the Assembly:

* Affirmed that the promotion, protection and full realization of all human rights and fundamental freedoms should not be used for political ends (49/181).

* Urgently appealed for effective action to combat and eliminate summary or arbitrary executions, including extrajudicial executions (49/191).

* Expressed hope that the Palestinian people "may soon exercise their right to self-determination in the current peace process" (49/149).

* Urged States to respect the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of States and the sovereign right of peoples to determine their political, economic and social systems; and to refrain from taking actions to undermine the electoral processes in any country (49/180).

* Affirmed that the promotion and protection of one category of rights should never exempt or excuse States from promoting and protecting the others (49/186).

* Declared firm opposition to acts of foreign military intervention, aggression and occupation (49/148).

* Asked States to consider concluding agreements to establish suitable regional machinery on human rights (49/189).

* Called on States to take all measures to prevent, combat and eliminate all acts of terrorism (49/185).

* Urged the promotion and the protection of the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, and the facilitation of their full participation in all aspects of the political, economic, social, religious and cultural life of society (49/192).

* Called upon States to: ensure the universally recognized freedom of travel to all foreign nationals legally residing in their territory; allow the free flow of financial remittances by foreign nationals residing in their territory to their relatives in the country of origin; and discourage and reverse legislation that adversely affected family reunification of documented migrants (49/182).

* Urged States to ensure that their territory and nationals were not used for the recruitment, assembly, financing, training and transit of mercenaries (49/150).

* Called on Governments to ensure that, when a state of emergency was introduced, the protection of human rights was ensured, particularly as regards the prevention of enforced disappearances (49/193).

* Urged States to give widespread publicity to the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action--adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights (14-25 June 1993, Vienna) (49/208).

* Urged States to ensure that no one within their jurisdiction was, on account of their religion or belief, deprived of the rights to life or to liberty and security of person, or subjected to torture or arbitrary arrest or detention (49/188).

* Expressed concern over financial limitations on the work of the Centre for Human Rights (49/195).