Declaration Adopted for Child Development in East Asia, Pacific

A regional joint development program for children in East Asia and the Pacific -- the Beijing Declaration -- was adopted Wednesday at the Fifth Ministerial Consultation in East Asia and the Pacific on Shaping the Future for Children.

The declaration, adopted at the closing meeting of the Ministerial Consultation, will serve as a guideline for child development in the region over the next 10 years.

The 3,400-word declaration puts forward, for the first time, the viewpoint that children's well-being should be put at the center of the national agenda and considered as the most important indicator of national economic and social progress.

According to the document, the development goals specified at the World Summit for Children in 1990 have been basically achieved by countries in this region.

Infant and under-five mortality has been greatly reduced, polio has been eradicated in all but four countries, the majority of families regularly consume iodized salt, the majority of children under five receive two doses of vitamin A each year, primary school enrollment is almost universal, 86 percent of adults are literate, and there is also increased protection of children.

The tasks of child development outlined by the declaration for the coming decade include:

-- Ensuring continued implementation and monitoring of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women;

-- Undertaking specific efforts to guarantee full respect for the rights of all children;

-- Striving to achieve the goals of the World Summit, which have not been achieved yet, in particular the goals to reduce maternal mortality and malnutrition and achieve universal access to basic social services, safe water and sanitation;

-- Reducing disparities, discrimination and inequities by reaching out to all children;

-- Recognizing the imminent threat of the HIV/AIDS epidemic that is rapidly affecting East Asia and the Pacific;

-- Ensuring the protection of all children, girls and boys, from all forms of violence;

-- Ensuring the active and full participation of children and youths in decisions affecting them.

According to the document, participating countries pledge to actively cooperate with relative international organizations and increase financial input to children's causes and social services. They also pledge their best efforts to ensure the inclusion of the principles of this declaration in the deliberations and outcomes of the United Nations Special Session on Children to be convened in September this year.

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