Conference for war-affected children

A conference that aims to get the international community to fulfil its commitments to protect children affected by war begins on Sunday in Winnipeg, Canada, UNICEF said. The eight-day event will examine how the international community will strengthen mechanisms for preventing the abuse of children during wartime and for making sure perpetrators do not go unpunished. An agenda and plan of action developed at the conference will be presented to the UN Special Session on Children scheduled for 2001, UNICEF said on Tuesday. The Winnipeg meeting, to be chaired by Graca Machel - author of a major 1996 UN study on children and armed conflict - will be divided into three parts. Youths from Canada and war-affected countries get together on 10-12 September for a Young Meeting to identify and analyse issues important to them. UNICEF will co-host an Experts’ Meeting on 13-15 September involving NGOs, government officials, academics, the private sector, youth and international organisations. These sectors are also to be represented at a ministerial-level meeting on 16-17 September.