Children a priority "even in times of tension", says govt

A UN envoy of the Republic of Congo (ROC) told a committee meeting of the General Assembly on Friday that "Congo had, even in times of tension, paid particular attention to its children". During a discussion of children's rights by the Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural Committee, Rene Nsemi of the ROC said the Convention on the Rights of the Child - which Congo had ratified in 1993 - was the fundamental framework for child protection policies. He encouraged the international community to focus on next year's UN special session on children, particularly since the unique needs of African children were being taken into account for that event. He said that an office of planning and oversight had been created to collect and publish data on the protection of children. Regarding the situation in his country, he said that after several years of conflict, the overall tasks to be undertaken were immense, particularly with regard to ensuring adequate health care and education. Congolese children have "suffered greatly" from malnutrition and lack of access to clean water, but he reported that vaccination programmes had been reintroduced as conflicts subsided. Combating the effects of war and poverty were issues that had been given immediate attention by agencies in his country, he added, but he told the assembly not to forget that his country, as many others in Africa, continued to struggle with increased debt burden and decreased development assistance.