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Silent emergency for Burmese childr
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Oral Intervention by Dr. Thaung Htun
Worldview International Foundation
Agenda Item (13)
Thank you, Madame Chair,
Let me begin by expressing our appreciation for the adoption of the
Optional Protocol to the Convention of the Rights of the Child on the
involvement of children in armed conflict at the 10th Anniversary of the
Convention last year. Increasing the minimum age of recruitment for
soldiers in time of armed conflict is indeed a significant achievement
and a milestone in the international efforts to protect the Rights of
the Child. Without such conscientious efforts, the alarming problem of
child victims globally can only worsen.
Children, as the Secretary General had correctly pointed out, have
increasingly been victimized both as targets and perpetrators of
violence in the armed conflicts of recent years. Children are the most
affected when they are internally displaced or become refugees as a
result of war. They are coerced into taking up arms as soldiers and
sent to the battlefields to get killed in action or become victims of
landmines. Horrible experiences of war have traumatized children and
affected their childhood development. Millions of children today are
also being deprived of access to food, health and education and are
dying because of starvation and even from preventable diseases.
In the past, the doctrine of ?non-interference in the internal affairs
of a sovereign nation? was a stumbling block to the attempts by
international humanitarian agencies to protect and provide humanitarian
assistance to children caught in the midst of conflict. We are happy to
note, however, that the right to intervene for humanitarian ends and the
protection of human rights has gained ground since a few years back. A
new ethic that places human rights at the center of development and
makes a first call for children is emerging. We are encouraged to see
UN agencies pioneering the practice of convincing parties in a conflict
to designate certain periods of tranquility, to respect humanitarian or
security zones and to open safe corridors to permit humanitarian workers
to reach pockets of children in war zones.
My country, Burma, has a young demographic structure with an estimated
36% of the population under 15 years of age. Recent World Bank and
UNICEF reports reveal the situation of silent emergency for Burmese
children. Let me highlight that with a few statistics:
· A slightly higher infant mortality rate (71 compared to an average of
68) and a significantly higher child mortality rate (113 compared to an
average of 77 in four other economies)
· About 175,000 children under five die each year, mostly from readily
preventable or treatable diseases?mainly due to lack of even 40 most
essential drugs
· An appallingly high 10% of children under three suffer from severe
malnutrition. This primarily is the result of untreated infections and
infestations; progressively eroding purchasing power and forced
resettlements.
· Less than 20% of primary school children complete all five years.
· Out of 120,000 Burmese refugees living along the Thai-Burma border and
2 millions internally displaced population, at least one-fourths are
children. Refugees and displaced children are most vulnerable to sexual
abuses, trafficking, conscription as military porters, human shields or
human mine sweepers and forced recruitment as soldiers.
· Safe water supply in rural and urban areas (31% and 38%, respectively)
is half that of the developing world as a whole. Even urban water
supplies remain untreated.
· 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. (Source: IMF Report 1998, Table 33)
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:
(1) To design a nationwide humanitarian ceasefire or days of
tranquility in the conflict zones so that UN agencies and international
NGOs can initiate a massive immunization program and deliver emergency
food aid and other emergency humanitarian assistance to the children in
conflict zones, and
(2) To integrate agenda of children in peace making and peace building
process.
Thank you.
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<b><font color="#000099"><font size=+1>Oral Intervention by Dr. Thaung
Htun</font></font></b>
<br><b><font color="#000099"><font size=+1>Worldview International Foundation</font></font></b>
<br><b><font color="#000099"><font size=+1>Agenda Item (13)</font></font></b>
<p><font color="#FF0000"><font size=+1>Thank you, Madame Chair,</font></font>
<p><font size=+1>Let me begin by expressing our appreciation for the adoption
of the Optional Protocol to the Convention of the Rights of the Child on
the involvement of children in armed conflict at the 10th Anniversary of
the Convention last year. Increasing the minimum age of recruitment
for soldiers in time of armed conflict is indeed a significant achievement
and a milestone in the international efforts to protect the Rights of the
Child. Without such conscientious efforts, the alarming problem of
child victims globally can only worsen.</font>
<p><font size=+1>Children, as the Secretary General had correctly pointed
out, have increasingly been victimized both as targets and perpetrators
of violence in the armed conflicts of recent years. Children are
the most affected when they are internally displaced or become refugees
as a result of war. They are coerced into taking up arms as soldiers
and sent to the battlefields to get killed in action or become victims
of landmines. Horrible experiences of war have traumatized children
and affected their childhood development. Millions of children
today are also being deprived of access to food, health and education and
are dying because of starvation and even from preventable diseases.</font>
<p><font size=+1>In the past, the doctrine of ?non-interference in the
internal affairs of a sovereign nation? was a stumbling block to the attempts
by international humanitarian agencies to protect and provide humanitarian
assistance to children caught in the midst of conflict. We are happy
to note, however, that the right to intervene for humanitarian ends and
the protection of human rights has gained ground since a few years back.
A new ethic that places human rights at the center of development and makes
a first call for children is emerging. We are encouraged to see UN
agencies pioneering the practice of convincing parties in a conflict to
designate certain periods of tranquility, to respect humanitarian or security
zones and to open safe corridors to permit humanitarian workers to reach
pockets of children in war zones.</font>
<p><font size=+1>My country, Burma, has a young demographic structure with
an estimated 36% of the population under 15 years of age. Recent
World Bank and UNICEF reports reveal the situation of silent emergency
for Burmese children. Let me highlight that with a few statistics:</font>
<p><font size=+1>· A slightly higher infant mortality rate (71 compared
to an average of 68) and a significantly higher child mortality rate (113
compared to an average of 77 in four other economies)</font>
<p><font size=+1>· About 175,000 children under five die each year,
mostly from readily preventable or treatable diseases?mainly due to lack
of even 40 most essential drugs</font>
<p><font size=+1>· An appallingly high 10% of children under three
suffer from severe malnutrition. This primarily is the result of untreated
infections and infestations; progressively eroding purchasing power and
forced resettlements.</font>
<p><font size=+1>· Less than 20% of primary school children complete
all five years.</font>
<p><font size=+1>· Out of 120,000 Burmese refugees living along
the Thai-Burma border and 2 millions internally displaced population, at
least one-fourths are children. Refugees and displaced children are
most vulnerable to sexual abuses, trafficking, conscription as military
porters, human shields or human mine sweepers and forced recruitment as
soldiers.</font>
<p><font size=+1>· Safe water supply in rural and urban areas (31%
and 38%, respectively) is half that of the developing world as a whole.
Even urban water supplies remain untreated.</font>
<p><font size=+1>· 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.</font>
<p><font size=+1>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.
(Source: IMF Report 1998, Table 33)</font>
<p><font size=+1>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:</font>
<p><font size=+1>(1) To design a nationwide humanitarian ceasefire
or days of tranquility in the conflict zones so that UN agencies and international
NGOs can initiate a massive immunization program and deliver emergency
food aid and other emergency humanitarian assistance to the children in
conflict zones, and</font>
<p><font size=+1>(2) To integrate agenda of children in peace
making and peace building process.</font>
<p><font size=+1>Thank you.</font>
<br>
<br>
<p> </html>
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