HOLY SEE RATIFIES PROTOCOLS ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD

VATICAN CITY, OCT 25, 2001 (VIS) - Archbishop Renato R. Martino, Holy See permanent observer to the United Nations, spoke yesterday at a press conference following the ratification of Two Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child at the U.N. headquarters in New York.

He noted that "According to the most recent UNICEF report, an estimated one million children, mainly girls, are forced into the multi-billion dollar commercial sex trade every year. The Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography explicitly prohibits the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, and calls for legal protection against the sexual exploitation of children, the transfer of their organs, and forced labor."

Archbishop Martino then underscored that "There are presently an estimated 300,000 children under the age of 18 acting as soldiers in armed conflict situations throughout the world. We also know that in the last ten years two million children have been killed, six million have been hurt, ten million have been traumatized, and a million children have been left orphaned because of armed conflict. The Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict expands the protection of children from recruitment for participation in armed conflict to the age of 18, and reinforces the prohibition of the recruitment of children under the age by armed forces distinct from the State."

DELSS;CHILDREN'S RIGHTS;...;UN; MARTINO;VIS;20011025;Word: 240;