We the children: meeting the promise of the world summit for children

The United Nations General Assembly's Special Session on Children, to which this report is addressed, is a historic opportunity for world leaders to renew their commitment to creating a world fit for children. It is also a natural successor to the Millennium Summit, at which those lead ers pledged to halve the proportion of people living in extreme poverty, to reduce child and maternal mortality, to provide clean water and basic education for all, to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS and to reach many other development goals that are vital for our children's future.
It is sometimes said that at United Nations conferences goals are ever set but never met. This report refutes that assertion. It demonstrates, with facts and figures, how the 1990 World Summit for Children, at that time the largest gathering of world leaders in history, was indeed very systematically followed up and rigorously monitored and has resulted in many impressive achievements. Not least, it catalysed political commitment behind the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is now the world's most widely embraced human rights instrument. The fact that not all the goals and targets of the World Summit were fully achieved should now serve as a spur for greater political support, increased resources and more dynamic social mobilization.

There is no task more important than building a world in which all of our children can grow up to realize their full potential, in health, peace and dignity. I commend this report to all the participants in the Special Session on Children, and to the millions of dedicated activists around the world who have united behind this cause.