UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) Thursday launched a special edition issue of the agency's flagship "The State of the World's Children" report, which focuses on the ground-breaking human rights covenant for children, and tracks the impact of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the challenges that remain.

(R to L) Ann M. Veneman, executive director of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and actor Lucy Liu and Grace Akallo, former child soldier from Uganda, show "The State of the World's Children" reports to the media during a news conference at the UNICEF headquarters in New York Nov. 19, 2009. The UNICEF on Thursday launched a special edition issue of the agency's flagship "The State of the World's Children" report, which focuses on the ground-breaking human rights covenant for children, and tracks the impact of the Convention on the Rights of the Child ( CRC) and the challenges that remain. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    Launching the report on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the CRC's adoption by the UN General Assembly, UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman said, "The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most ratified human rights treaty in human history."

    "It has transformed the way children are viewed and treated throughout the world," she said at the launching ceremony at the UNICEF headquarters in New York.

    Also present at the ceremony were UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and actor Lucy Liu, and Grace Akallo, a former child soldier from Uganda, who discussed at the event the special edition, which explores the difference that the CRC has made in the lives of children over the past two decades and the role it can play in an increasingly populous, urbanized, disparate and environmentally challenged world.

    On Nov. 20, 1989, the United Nations adopted the CRC, the first legally binding international instrument that incorporated the full range of human rights for children.

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) Goodwill Ambassador and actor Lucy Liu speaks during a news conference at the UNICEF headquarters in New York Nov. 19, 2009.(Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    The convention has 193 ratifications, the process by which countries decide to be bound by the articles of an international treaty. It articulates a set of universal children's rights, such as the right to an identity, a name and a nationality, the right to an education, and rights to the highest possible standards of health and protection from abuse and exploitation.

    These rights are based on four core principles -- non-discrimination, the best interest of the child as primary consideration in matters that affect them, rights to life, survival and development, and respect for the views of children.

    The convention also identifies the obligation of governments to do all they can to deliver these rights, and acknowledges the special role of parents in their children's upbringing.

    More than 70 countries have incorporated children's codes into national legislation based on the convention's provisions, and awareness and advocacy on child protection issues have increased markedly since the convention was opened for signature 20 years ago.

Ann M. Veneman, executive director of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), speaks during a news conference at the UNICEF headquarters in New York Nov. 19, 2009.(Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    The report said that considerable progress has been made through the past two decades:

    -- The annual number of deaths of children under five years of age has fallen from around 12.5 million in 1990 to an estimated 8.8 million in 2008, representing a 28 percent decline in the rate of under five mortality;

    -- Between 1990 and 2006, 1.6 billion people world-wide gained access to improved water sources;

    -- Globally, around 84 percent of primary-school-age children are in class today and the gender gap in primary school enrollment is narrowing;

    -- Children are no longer the missing face of the HIV and AIDS pandemic;

    -- Important steps have been taken to help protect children from serving as soldiers or trafficked into prostitution or domestic servitude; and

    -- The age of children getting married is rising in some countries and the number of girls subjected to genital cutting is gradually falling.

    But children's rights are still far from assured, according to UNICEF.

    "It is unacceptable that children are still dying from preventable causes, like pneumonia, malaria, measles and malnutrition," said Veneman. "Many of the world's children will never see the inside of a school room, and millions lack protection against violence, abuse, exploitation, discrimination and neglect."

    The rights of girls still require special attention. The majority of children who do not attend primary school are girls, and girls are more likely to suffer sexual violence, to be trafficked or to be forced into child marriage. In many regions they are less likely to receive essential healthcare.

    The report includes special expert essays from public and private sector representatives, alongside examples of the child rights situation in a range of countries.

Grace Akallo, former child soldier from Uganda, shows "The State of the World's Children" report to the media during a news conference at the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) headquarters in New York Nov. 19, 2009.(Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    Many of the expert essays offer advice on the role the convention can have, in an increasingly populous, urbanized and environmentally challenged world, over the next 20 years and beyond. The report also provides a range of suggestions that could ensure the protection of children's rights continues to advance.

    More than 160 events are taking place worldwide commemorating the 20th anniversary of the convention. The special edition of "The State of the World's Children" is part of UNICEF's contribution to those commemorations, which also includes jointly hosting, with civil society and government partners, a global commemoration and panel discussion to be held at the United Nations Headquarters on Nov. 20.

    "The big challenge of the next 20 years is to firmly position the best interests of children at the heart of all human activity," said Veneman. "It is our collective responsibility to ensure every child's rights to survival, development, protection and participation."

    UNICEF is on the ground in over 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

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