President,
I have the honor to speak on behalf of the Nordic countries, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Sweden and Norway.
We are grateful to the High Commissioner for his useful report on investments in the rights of the child. We also thank the panelists for their valuable input.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child has inspired change in laws, institutions and policies, which have improved the lives of so many children.
However, the lack of sufficient public spending is one of main obstacles to the realization of the rights of child. In our view there should be clear links between laws, polices and budgets.
The investment in the rights of children is not only a legal obligation, but also sound macro-economic policy.
Investments are, however not enough. Worldwide, public awareness work and human rights training is still needed to ensure positive attitudes towards the realization of children’s rights.
In our experience, allowing children to be heard and participate in processes that affect their lives, pave way to better policies and more sustainable solutions.
Ensuring a transparent, participatory and accountable budgeting process is also imperative. Could the panelists share their views on how States can ensure equity in public budget allocation and spending in order to secure that the most vulnerable and marginalized children have their rights realized?
Finally, we would like to stress the importance of States investing in the girl child’s and adolescent girls’ sexual and reproductive health and rights. Such investments are of critical importance to people’s wellbeing and the prosperity of families and communities. They have in fact been proven cost-effective and cost saving, thereby freeing up resources for other development priorities. We would appreciate to hear the panelists’ view on how States can best ensure the required funding for securing sexual and reproductive health and rights for the girl child and adolescent girls.