Towards a UN General Assembly Special Session on Children

Preparations have been underway around the world for a Special Session of the U.N. General Assembly on Children in New York. Throughout the whole of last year, as part of the Global Movement for Children, the “Say Yes for Children” campaign has been energetically conducted in Russia. During the campaign, more than 500,000 signatures were collected, special actions were taken, and presentations, round table discussions, and many other events were held. The aim of all these measures was to make children’s voices heard, to understand the concerns of contemporary youth, and how to solve the problems they find relevant by working together with government officials and all of civil society.

“I Want to Talk and Be Heard!”

At the end of March, the Voice of the Sea Northern Festival of Children’s Press and Television, organized by the Yunpress Association of Young Journalists with the support of the RF Ministry of Education and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), was held in the city of Severodvinsk.

In attendance were 120 delegates – young journalists representing territories from Kaliningrad to Kamchatka. They all had some experience working with children’s and teens’ newspapers and magazines, and Internet publications. They all shared a passionate interest in what is happening around them, and a burning desire to make positive changes in society.

To mark the Day of NGOs, a number of round table discussions were held on the most serious social problems of teens and young adults. Topics for discussion were child crime, adolescent alcoholism, the attitude towards the HIV-infected, street living and child neglect, drug addiction, disabled children’s adaptation to society, and ways of organizing leisure activities for younger children and teens. Together with specialists from the Yunpress Association and professional journalists from Archangel and Severodvinsk’s local publications and television programmes, the delegates discussed how to write about these in children’s and teens’ periodicals.

The heads of the Helping Children organization and representatives from the Vologda delegation told about interesting experiences abroad; for example, of discotheques for teens who can get around only with the help of a wheelchair. There is also a ballroom dancing competition for the wheelchair-bound; while in certain countries, handicapped youth dance in ordinary teen discos without embarrassment. Delegates from the Archangel Region city of Kotlas shared their impressions of how material on their mentally retarded peers was prepared, and how they saw for themselves that there is a great deal of talent among the retarded – in singing, handicrafts, and folk art. The greatest difficulty lay in overcoming the psychological barrier before entering the school for mentally and physically handicapped children.

“A cry for help” was how Dina Gnezdova, from the Archangel Region’s small town of Dvinsk Bereznik, described her impression following such a visit. “We’re so afraid of talking about children with limited mental and physical capabilities. And there are so many of them – more than a thousand in Severodvinsk alone. They need to be shown respect. Yesterday, I visited a Severodvinsk children’s home. To be honest, I was very afraid. You want to know why? I didn’t know how to behave, or what to say. In fact, though, it was all quite simple. The children are so friendly and interesting. I spent a long time talking to Dima, who is twelve. Because of illness (children’s cerebral palsy), he has poorly developed speech, and he can’t pronounce numbers at all. He does okay in his studies, though, and he’s even something of a philosopher. That’s right – he’s a little philosopher with adult views on life. He’s already written and published three books. The first was a collection of stories; the last was about himself.

“Everyone has a dream, and Dmitri’s is very simple: “I want everyone to treat us with respect! We don’t need all that much, just a bit of attention from those around us. We want to live too, you know”, my new friend said.

“After we had said good-bye, and the home was already far away, I suddenly understood what had so disturbed me on this trip. Kids from Severodvinsk get to socialize because they have their own organization. This means that they have greater opportunities than kids from other parts of Archangel Region. How I’d like to help them! Besides a good word or two, I couldn’t do anything, though. Why don’t adults who should or who are able to help, do something? Why? Let’s think about it. We’ll be more caring and humane. I would really like to live in a society with kind-hearted adults who love all children. Let’s give it a try!” the 12-year-old correspondent closed her remarks.

This challenge – to live in a society with kind-hearted adults who love all children – absolutely must be conveyed to the Special Session of the UN General Assembly, and to those who are involved with the fate of Dmitri and other handicapped children.

The young correspondents also framed the challenge very well: “From slogans – to action!” They themselves have no wish to sit with folded hands, and are now motivating adults with actions aimed at improving children’s welfare.

Young people are concerned about the problems of living healthily. Thus, for example, the young correspondents from Kaliningrad did their homework, and wrote about the UNICEF project in their city – a youth-friendly clinic. Their experience was of great interest to the festival’s other participants.

Special attention was given to the smoking of tobacco. It is no longer considered “cool” to smoke; nevertheless, there are many who lack the strength to say “No!” to their first proffered cigarette. How to say “No!” and reject what might become a pernicious habit leading to irreversible consequences, was the subject of one of the round table discussions. The HIV/AIDS problem – which, according to data from surveys taken in Russia as part of the “Say Yes for Children” programme, worries the nation’s youth more than anything else – was also hotly debated by the young journalists.

A lively discussion was evoked by the question: How does one write about drugs without glorifying their use, while at the same time stressing their insidious effects?

After a press conference with the Mayor of Severodvinsk and the heads of the Archangel Region administration and local officials, the journalists turned to the production of their publications. Meanwhile, at the computer center of the Severodvinsk Palace of Children and Teenagers’ Creativity, a competition was taking place for young designers to come up with the best calling card for young correspondents working within UNICEF’s “Health and Development of Young People” programme. Along with delegates from Archangel and Severodvinsk, young designers from the Udmurt Republic, Vladimir, Yaroslavl, Vologda, and Voronezh took part in the contest.

At the closing of the festival, many of the delegates received not only laureate diplomas and mementoes from its sponsors, but special prizes from UNICEF – awards for socially-oriented journalistic work dedicated to the UN General Assembly’s Special Session on Children.

“Life Preserver”

When Tatyana Alekseeva, the Volgograd Region Ombudsman for Children’s Rights, began implementing, as part of the Global Movement for Children, the provisions of the “Say Yes for Children” programme in the city of Volgograd and the surrounding area, she and her volunteer helpers could not have imagined how timely and badly-needed such a campaign was. Its interest in the opinions of children and adults, and its respect for these opinions, made the programme both relevant and important. It is these qualities which many of our contemporaries, large and small, seem to lack during this period of economic transition.

In filling out the “Say Yes for Children” pledge and pondering the question “Which three problems are the most pressing for you and your region?”, the respondents were, in essence, sharing their innermost and most painful concerns.

Questionnaires were distributed to children’s homes and shelters in the cities of Volzhsk, Kamyshin, Kalach-on-the-Don, Rudna, and others across Volgograd Region. A total of 652 people responded to the survey. Of these, 53% were women, and 47%, men – an exact reflection of the demographic composition of the population.

In terms of age, the respondents were distributed in the following manner: 11% were age 11 or under; 58% were 12 to 17; and 27% were 18 to 25.

What did the survey demonstrate? Regardless of place of residence or age, practically all were deeply worried about the problem of personal and public safety, in the broad sense of this concept. Alarm, uncertainty, and distrust of social and public guarantees created the background for this. Adolescents aged 12 to 17 were most concerned with the matter of getting an education. Youngsters fully recognize and sense the spiritual and material poverty of society, along with its neglect of children. This does not indicate a consumer attitude towards society, but a desire to grow into full-fledged, educated citizens. The adult generation was in complete solidarity with children in regard to this issue. It was no accident, therefore, that “Providing every child with an education” emerged as the number one concern on the “Say Yes for Children” questionnaire.

A logical extension of the above was the question of “Fighting poverty, and investing in the development of children” holding second place among the responses.

In third place was an issue of extreme relevance to Russia, and one of UNICEF’s greatest priorities for the coming years: that of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The question of “Fighting HIV/AIDS” was among the top three for 14% of the respondents. This testifies to the seriousness of the problem, and to the fact that the younger generation is adequately informed and has a quite responsible attitude towards questions of health, although it certainly does not always act in a responsible manner.

As part of the Volgograd Region Ombudsman for Children’s Right’s “Life Preserver” programme, and the “Say Yes for Children” campaign, a social and legal program was implemented in the October Special Comprehensive School for Boys. This institution houses 50 young lawbreakers aged 14 and under, and is visited regularly, in the company of lawyers, physicians, and psychologists, by the Ombudsman for Children’s Rights.

“The main goal of the “Life Preserver” programme”, said Ms. Alekseeva, “is to provide support for children in difficult situations, and help them develop the skills to support one another; to show that the world and adults haven’t turned their backs on them and are ready to extend a hand to keep them from sinking to the bottom. Life doesn’t end at the age of 13, even if you have to celebrate your 13th birthday behind bars”.

A round table discussion, in which representatives from the staff of the Russian Federation President’s Authorized Representative in the Southern Federal District, the administration of Volgograd Region, the heads of committees and agencies involved in children’s issues, and delegates from public organizations took part, concluded the “Say Yes for Children” programme in the Volgograd Region.

Page: 1  2  3  4  5  6