Agenda Item 13: Rights of the Child. "... Many children are orphaned, abandoned, trafficked, exploited in the labor force, institutionalized or jailed. Some are used in drug running, while others are targets of ethnic discrimination. All these problems are linked to one common factor, chronic and malignant failure by the State to provide the survival, protection, and development needs of children. This failure is directly linked to the ongoing more than 50 years of civil war between the military regime and armed ethnic groups demanding greater autonomy. These problems also reflect the authorities' persistent refusal to allocate any part of foreign exchange earnings to the non-military social sector. The published budgetary figures show that military spending per capita exceeds that spent on health by nine times, and that on education by more than two times ... What all key players on the Burmese political stage have to keep in mind is that humanitarian consequences arising from the failure to address the emergency needs of children are grave and they threaten the nation?s future. The talks that are going on between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy, and the ruling authorities are a hopeful sign for change to the Burmese society. In the context of this new development, the Commission should encourage all leaders of parties involved in conflict in Burma ... "