Kufuor Off To USA to address 27th UN session

President John Agyekum Kufuor is expected to address the 27th Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Children Scheduled for New York from April 8 to 10, Mrs Gladys Asmah, Minister for Women and Children's Affairs, said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a pre-summit briefing held in Accra, she said a Children's Forum where two children from Ghana were expected to participate would precede the summit. The world's children would prepare a resolution for submission to the summit.

The session was expected to adopt an outcome document, "A world fit for children", which would indicate a declaration by participating governments, review progress and lessons learned since the first world summit in 1990, as well as adopt a plan of action for creating a world fit for children.

Mrs Asmah said implementation of the various laws that have been made since the last summit on children a decade ago had been greatly constrained by the lack of adequate enforcement mechanisms, effective resource allocation and lack of knowledge among relevant authorities and the public.

"Efforts to disseminate the Convention on the Rights of the Child have, however, not achieved the desired impact as many NGOs, professional groups and the bulk of the population do not show much attitudinal change," she said.

Mrs Asmah called for more public education in building up knowledge of the convention. She said it was important to let the people of Ghana know how much progress had been made in promoting the well-being and development of children in the country over the past decade and the factors that had inhibited progress for children in Ghana.

Ms Atawa Akyea, acting Executive Secretary of the Ghana National Commission on Children, said the special session was a follow-up to 1990 world summit for children where 71 heads of state and government and other leaders signed the world declaration on the survival, protection and development of children.

She said the special session was expected to focus on how investment in children's education, health, and protection would contribute to global stability and peace.

Ms Akyea said the issue of how and why to invest in children had taken on a greater significance and Ghana considered the dismal situation of the thousands of children on the streets, the "kayaye" and other problems as deliberate exploitation of children.

She said that was why the National Partnership for Children, launched by the president last April was so relevant, adding, "that effort was only a beginning to build a world fit for children".

Mr Aliu Bello, UNICEF representative, said the occasion would be used to appeal to the respective consciences of world leaders. "They would be told to put children first in the developmental process, to educate every child, prevent exploitation of children and reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS on children, renew the fight against poverty and acquaint themselves with critical issues affecting children by listening to them," he said.