Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Children today are living in a time of great change, opportunities and challenges. New phenomena are challenging children as well as adults. Children these days know much more – and learn very quickly – about what’s going on around them, but also about things that are happening far away. They live in both the real world and the virtual world – at one and the same time. It is our responsibility to make sure that this enriches and brightens their childhood – and that it does not instead shorten, complicate or threaten their safety or very lives. Regrettably many children in the world face also poverty, the scourge of HIV/aids, armed conflict and other forms of violence.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child provides important support for children in these times of rapid change. We see the Convention on the Rights of the Child as a minimum level – a baseline. In many areas we can achieve more.
The goal of our welfare policy is to guarantee all girls and boys a good start in life. The main responsibility for children’s care and upbringing lies with their parents or other guardians. The society has to support the parents so as to guarantee good and secure conditions for children to grow up in.
It is important that both decision-makers and other adults listen to children, take them seriously and make sure that they are included as far as possible in decisions that affect them.
A good dialogue with children is something we engage in far too rarely. We decision-makers have a language of our own. We leave little space for children’s questions or suggestions and rarely or never get back to the children to tell them what we have done about their points of view. Here we still have much to learn.
Yesterday I had the privilege of taking part in a meeting of children’s ombudsmen from all over the world. Sweden believes that children’s ombudsmen have a very important role to play in enabling us to fulfill our joint undertaking from 2002. We would like to encourage countries that have not yet established a children’s ombudsman to take advantage of this option.
The Millennium Declaration, the Millennium Development Goals, the action plan A World Fit for Children and the Convention on the Rights of the Child are cornerstones of Sweden’s international development cooperation. Our development cooperation is based on a rights perspective and the perspectives of poor people on their own development.
Development must be equitable and will not be sustainable unless children’s best interests and capabilities are taken into account. All our development cooperation must place a greater focus on child protection and on girls’ and boys’ participation. Violence against children can never be justified and all forms of violence and abuse must be combated and prevented. It has been against the law for almost thirty years in Sweden for parents to hit their children. Other countries have followed our example, though regrettably far too few. The picture that emerges from the UN study is frightening. All over the world, children are still being subjected to violence and abuse. We must all act together to put a stop to all this.
We must work for a shared vision of zero tolerance – no child is to be subjected to violence.
International organizations should encourage and help their member countries to abolish all forms of violence against children in all contexts, including in the family. Politicians, teachers, religious leaders, the mass media and opinion makers should all contribute to abolishing the violence that affects our children.
Sweden welcomes the decision to appoint a special representative to the Secretary-General of the United Nations in the work to combat violence against children. We are convinced that the special representative will be able to coordinate efforts at international level.
Sweden appreciates the work being done by the United Nations Children’s Fund around the world. The work of UNICEF is making a difference to children’s everyday lives. We can all find valuable questions and useful answers in the down-to-earth studies that the Innocenti Research Centre produces in such a professional way.
We also recognize with appreciation the work of United Nations Development Fund for Women and others who focus on promoting gender equality and combating all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child.
Much of the world soon will be celebrating Christmas and a new year, a holiday season characterized by generosity and hope for the future. Above all, it is a time for children.
We, politicians and decision makers, should keep the focus on children even after these holidays: We should constantly seek direct contact with children and ask them what we can do for them and what we and they can do together.
Our vision is for every country to be a place where every girl and boy gets the best imaginable start in life.
Sweden will continue to be a trustworthy partner in our continued work to build a World Fit for Children.
Thank you.