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AG/RES. 1667 (XXIX-O/99)

INCLUSION OF CHILDREN’S ISSUES ON THE HEMISPHERIC AGENDA

(Resolution adopted at the first plenary session, held on June 7, 1999)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

HAVING SEEN the observations and recommendations of the Permanent Council on the annual reports of the organs, agencies, and entities of the Organization of American States (AG/doc.3830/99 add. 2) and, in particular, those regarding the Annual Report of the Inter-American Children’s Institute (CP/doc.3182/99); and

CONSIDERING:

That during the 73rd meeting of the Directing Council of the Inter-American Children’s Institute, all participants repeatedly noted the difficulties encountered in including the subject of children on the agendas of the meetings of the General Assembly, the councils of the Organization of American States, and the other inter-American specialized organizations;

That children are a permanent reality and the origin of the region’s human resources, that almost half the inhabitants of our countries are children or adolescents, and that every four seconds a child is born in the Americas;

That because of their socioeconomic status, many children will be unable to benefit from the region’s progress; that a third of them are born to poor families and experience marginalization from the beginning of their lives; that approximately 10 percent of these children will not be registered and therefore have no identity; that about half of them will drop out of the school system before completing their primary education, to the detriment not only of their individual potential, but also of their countries’ social capital; and that 22 percent of them will become street dwellers, which condition places their physical and moral integrity at risk;

That the various problems mentioned above have harmful effects on the children and adolescents of the Americas;

That, no less important than the above, the socioeconomic context renders our children extremely vulnerable to sexual exploitation;

That, therefore, children’s issues and the commitment of our countries to adopt public policies that respect our children’s rights should have their rightful place on the agendas of the General Assembly, the Councils of the OAS, and the other inter-American specialized organizations;

That in this regard it is absolutely essential that children’s issues be given priority consideration in the aforesaid political forums, especially in the General Assembly of the OAS and at the next Summit of the Americas, to be held in Canada; and

That the Directing Council, at its 73rd regular session, agreed in resolution CD/RES. 11 (73-R/98) to request the Institute to include in its annual report to the General Assembly a draft resolution emphasizing the importance of this issue and proposing a specific course of action,

RESOLVES:

1. To encourage all the member states of the OAS to promote, through the appropriate bodies, the inclusion of children’s issues and, in particular, the issue of their well-being at the next Summit of the Americas, to be held in Canada.

2. To instruct the Inter-American Children’s Institute to deal systematically with the problem of the sexual exploitation of children and adolescents in the region and their participation in armed conflicts, in coordination with other organs, agencies, and entities of the United Nations system and other relevant organizations, in such a way as to propose the development of strategies and plans of action aimed at preventing and combating this scourge.

3. To instruct the Inter-American Children’s Institute to prepare an annual report, to be submitted to the Secretary General of the Organization of American States, describing the steps taken by the member states to combat the commercial and other sexual exploitation of children and adolescents.

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