ASSURING THE RIGHTS AND DIGNITY OF FUTURE GENERATIONS

VATICAN CITY, APR 14, 2000 (VIS) - Archbishop Giuseppe Bertello, Holy See permanent observer to the Offices of the United Nations and Specialized Institutions in Geneva, spoke there on April 12 on the rights of children during the 56th session of the Human Rights Commission.

He focussed on the two optional protocols to the Children's Rights Convention which have been prepared by work groups and which regard the involvement of children in armed conflicts as well as the sale of children, child prostitution and pornography involving children.

The archbishop noted that the first protocol involving children in conflicts "sets their obligatory enrollment in the armed forces and their direct involvement in hostilities at age 18. The Holy See would have hoped ... that a consensus could have been reached on the question of voluntary enrolment at 18 years of age."

He lamented the fact that children often enrol willingly in the military to earn money, "to survive, to show their strength and maturity or to follow the example of friends. Sometimes they are driven by a culture of violence. ... A new international instrument does not resolve in itself the problem of child-soldiers, but it is an important commitment for everyone."

On the question of children being used for prostitution and pornography, Archbishop Bertello said these "new forms of slavery are fundamental violations of the rights of children: education, private life, health needs. etc. ... Sexual exploitation of children is a dramatic social blight which demands the intervention and collaboration of all involved in forming young people," in particular civil authorities.

The Holy See observer urged greater efforts to eliminate the causes of such plights. He asked if "the erosion ... of family and community values as well as the exaltation of a lifestyle which makes money and riches the supreme values, does not contribute somewhat to the breadth of this phenomenon."

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