PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF RIGHTS OF CHILDREN

VATICAN CITY, NOV 13, 1996 (VIS) - The "Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Children" was the topic of the address delivered yesterday in New York by Archbishop Renato Martino, Holy See permanent observer to the United Nations, before the Third Committee of the 51st Session of the UN General Assembly.

The archbishop said this topic is "a concern which, over the millennia to the present day, has led the Catholic Church to be one of the primary providers of care for children throughout the world."

He focussed his remarks on the report before the Committee on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children, and highlighted "the ramifications of children's war-caused suffering for the future of their societies. ... Children must thrive if we are to hope for a better future." Archbishop Martino recalled the report's "grim statistics of the millions of children who have either died or continue to suffer the ravages of man's inhumanity to man."

The nuncio also spoke of "the other innumerable tragedies facing children ... the sale of children and their sexual exploitation, including child prostitution and child pornography; the exploitation of children through child labor; the plight of street children and of innocent children suffering and dying from HIV/AIDS; and the tragedy of refugee and internally displaced children."
DELSS/CHILDREN/UN:MARTINO VIS 961113 (220)