U.N. summit promises to help world's children

UNITED NATIONS -- The first U.N children's summit ended with 180 nations pledging to improve the lot of the world's 2 billion youngsters, but the outcome didn't seem to satisfy anyone, including American delegates.

The United States -- along with the Vatican and Islamic countries including Sudan and Syria -- had disagreed with Europe, Canada and many Latin American countries on the issues of sex education, contraception and abortion.

A compromise deal was reached and adopted by consensus before midnight Friday at the end of two years of negotiations and a marathon 30-hour final blitz.

Carol Bellamy, the executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund, called the blueprint to improve the lives of children over the next 15 years "a strong, action-oriented document."

It focuses on improving health, protection of children against abuse, violence and exploitation, and fighting HIV/AIDS.

But few delegates were as enthusiastic as Bellamy.

Canadian envoy Gilbert Laurin said the deal "falls significantly short" of reaffirming the right to high-quality family planning as well as counseling and information for adolescents.

Spain's U.N. Ambassador Inocencio Arias, representing the European Union, regretted that it didn't reflect past agreements that strongly supported sexual and reproductive health services.

Adrienne Germain, president of the International Women's Health Coalition, claimed "it was shoved down the throats of the rest of the world by the United States."

While U.S. Ambassador Sichan Siv said the summit "will mean greater hope for children around the world," he outlined a host of U.S. reservations to the final document.

The United States does not in any way view the final document as promoting "abortion or abortion-related services" or abortion as a method of family planning, he said. It also believes in the need "to practice abstinence, fidelity, and monogamy" and to support marriage between men and women and strong parental rights.

The U.S. delegation had pushed the Bush administration's agenda against abortion and in favor of sexual abstinence before marriage and of the traditional family.

On the other side of the debate were the European Union and many Latin American and Western countries who support the successive agreements on reproductive and sexual health issues at five U.N. conferences in the last eight years. They say the programs those conferences have generated are crucial for young people.

In a victory for the Bush administration, the document excludes the United States from a requirement barring the death penalty or life imprisonment for those under the age of 18.

Palestinian supporters also pushed for a reference to the plight of Palestinian children in the final document. But the issue was dropped when agreement was reached on the final document.

Early in the final negotiations, delegates settled a contentious issue between the United States and all other countries -- how to refer to the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was intended to be the global standard for children's issues.

The convention has been ratified by 191 countries -- all nations except Somalia and the United States. President Bush's administration opposed language saying the convention is "the standard" for children's rights, because the United States is not a party, and diplomats said the text was reluctantly watered down.

Former President Bill Clinton's administration signed the convention but never submitted it for Senate ratification because a number of groups argued that it infringed on the rights of parents and was inconsistent with state and local laws.

The Bush administration has also taken no action. Somalia signed the convention this week and is expected to ratify it, which will leave the United States as the lone holdout.

As delegates headed home, UNICEF's Bellamy urged them to show commitment and "bold leadership."

"If leaders keep the promises they have made, we can bring about enormous positive change in the world in less than a generation," she said.