IPS: 30th anniversary of World Summit for Children — Today Children Need a New Initiative
Richard Jolly, honorary professor at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex

“…Thirty years ago, on 29/30 September 1990, the largest gathering of world leaders that had ever taken place, met at U.N. Headquarters under the auspices of the U.N. Children’s Fund, UNICEF. This was The World Summit for Children. … Today when children are under serious threat from COVID-19, the 30th anniversary of the Children’s Summit is a highly appropriate time for countries to renew and update the vows they made then. Though children are much less likely to suffer direct effects from the virus, the indirect effects are already serious — in disrupted education, in neglect of essential medical care, in disturbed relations with family, relatives, and friends. Many are also suffering the consequences of domestic violence and child abuse. … Today’s COVID crisis could be an opportunity — for a new impetus to invest in our children and in the next generation of doctors, nurses, scientists, statisticians, and carers, who will need to be well prepared to deal with future crises and emergencies. Though a collective meeting is not possible, every country needs to consider and plan for its children, both to recover from the immediate effects of the virus and to set new paths for the next five and ten years. Prime ministers and heads of state should take the lead, citizen’s assemblies should add to the specifics, and communities and governments should make the commitments…” (9/28).