The world has failed children says UN Chief

Secretary-General Kofi Annan opened the first UN children’s summit today with a stinging rebuke to ‘‘the grown-ups’’ of the world for failing ‘‘deplorably’’ to uphold the right of every child to grow up free of poverty and war and to receive a quality education.

Addressing several dozen world leaders and representatives from more than 180 countries at UN headquarters in New York, Annan said youngsters have a right to expect that the promises they made ‘‘to build a world fit for children’’ are kept.

‘‘To the adults in this room, I would say: let us not make children pay for our failures any more,’’ he told the crowded General Assembly chamber.

‘‘We know from experience that for every dollar invested in the development of a child, there is a seven dollar return for all society.’’

As delegates began the three-day summit, the United States was still at odds with other nations over family planning, children’s rights, and ‘‘reproductive health,’’ which some conservatives interpret as advocating abortion.

The UN children’s summit is bringing together about 3,000 delegates - including about 60 world leaders and more than 250 children - along with 3,000 representatives of non-governmental organisations. Leading figures from business, the arts, and religion are also attending, including Microsoft’s Bill Gates and actors Harry Belafonte and Roger Moore.

The General Assembly’s first special session on children will review the successes and failures in meeting 27 goals set by the 1990 World Summit for Children and set new priorities and goals for the next 15 years on issues ranging from health and education to Aids orphans, child soldiers and children trafficked for prostitution and labour.

‘‘Children are better off today than they were 10 years ago,’’ said Carol Bellamy, executive director of the United Nations Children’s Fund.

More children are in school than ever before, polio has nearly been eradicated and there are three million fewer child deaths per year now than in 1990.

But an estimated 150 million of the more than two billion children in the world are malnourished; nearly 11 million die before their fifth birthday; more than 120 million do not attend school; 10 million die each year from preventable causes; and some 300,000 are fighting in wars.

Speaking to the children of the world, Annan said: ‘‘You have the right to grow up free of poverty and hunger ... to a quality education, whether you are a girl or a boy ... to be protected from infectious diseases, including Aids ... to grow up on a clean and healthy planet ... to live safe from the threat of war, abuse and exploitation.

‘‘These rights are obvious. Yet, we, the grown-ups, have failed you deplorably in upholding many of them,’’ he said. ‘‘We the grown-ups must reverse this list of failures. And we are pledged to do so.’’