Working for Well-being of Children Worldwide 'Responsibility of Our Generation'

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Friday that "children are our future," and to strive for the better life of children across the world "is the responsibility of our generation."

"The well-being of our children is of utmost importance to the United Nations and to the whole world," the secretary-general told Xinhua in an exclusive interview.

He said that it is "totally unacceptable" that more than 8.8 million children still die from preventable diseases (every year), like pneumonia, diarrhea and malnutrition.

"The United Nations .... has been leading the campaign to provide basic humanitarian assistance -- nutrition, primary education and primary health," Ban explained. "This is what the United Nations has been doing and will continue to do.

He urged the world to protect children from being exploited and abused.

"Too many children, they do not have access to even primary education. Too many children, they are exploited and abused. And still too many children are recruited as child soldiers. This is totally unacceptable," he said.

"We must prevent this," Ban said. "They are the future of our world. We must provide safety and security, health and sanitation, enough water and education.

"This is the responsibility of our generation .... and commitment of myself as secretary general. This is what the Convention on the Rights of the Child provides," he added.

In his message to world leaders on working for the well-being of children worldwide, the secretary-general said they should take primary consideration whenever they planned to do something. He also urged them to ask themselves, "What is in the best interests of our children?"

"Then the answer will come from that -- the best protection, best education, nutrition, sanitation and protection of their rights will be the best course of action," he said.

The secretary-general made the statement as the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Universal Children's Day are drawing near.

The Universal Children's Day falls on November 20. This year also marks the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959.

(Xinhua News Agency November 14, 2009)