Human Resources Development Section

Statement by Mr Nihal Rodrigo, Secretary-General, SAARC

In July this year, an ESCAP HRD Course on Psychosocial and Medical Services for Sexually Abused and Sexually Exploited Children and Youth was held in Kathmandu and Pokhara, Nepal. The Opening Ceremony was attended by Mr Nihal Rodrigo, Secretary-General, SAARC, underscoring the commitment of SAARC to this important issue. Below is the text of his statement at the Course.

Mr Nihal Rodrigo

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak at the Opening Ceremony of this well thought out training course.

That Governments, the UN through ESCAP, civil society and members of the medical and psychosocial professions are involved in this HRD Course is significant and should ensure a practical impact.

The Course concentrates specifically on psychosocial and medical aspects of the problem which is in a sense the most pivotal in that it deals directly with the personal situation of the individual children and youth affected by sexual abuse. I believe the course would impart skills to trainer-participants who could help those sexually exploited to return to their lost childhood if the damage done has not made it too late to make that long journey; or too late to heal the deep personal wounds of sexual abuse; or too late to efface the social stigmas and scars which may bar reintegration into society.

The heinous horrific nature of child abuse and sexual exploitation is universally condemned and the point need not be laboured. There nevertheless remains pockets of sexual abuse and exploitation of children of both genders whose perpetrators may in some perverse manner seek legal loopholes or even social norms to rationalize their crimes. Commercial and other interests which perpetuate these practices sometimes lend their backing in order to maintain their sordid trade. These include the seamier sides of tourism, the entertainment industry as it is euphemistically called, pornographic enterprises and trade in human trafficking. It is, therefore, important to keep these issues in public view.

The promotion of child welfare in a holistic sense has featured prominently in Declarations and Resolutions of SAARC since its inception. The Rawalpindi Declaration on Children in South Asia adopted at the Third SAARC Ministerial Conference on Children in Pakistan in 1996 stated that "South Asia can have no higher collective ambition that to work for a social, physical and ethnical -environment that enables every child to realize his or her full creative potential for the common good". SAARC has already finalized the text of a Convention on the Promotion of Regional arrangements for Child Welfare in South Asia.

However, beyond the Declarations and Statements, effective action to deal with the human toll of sexual exploitation of children needs to be carried across borders as well as over a number of sectors because of its social, medical, legal political and other ramifications.

South Asian Governments have been intensely aware of the depth of the problem of the sexual abuse and commercial exploitation of children, particularly of the girl child. 1990 was declared the Year of the Girl Child and the period 1991 to 2000, the Decade of the Girl Child. The focus on the girl child was to highlight the gross gender discrimination to which she has been subjected. The group that will benefit from the training course would come under the category of Girl Child in Especially Difficult Circumstances (GCEDC).

SAARC has reached agreement on a draft Convention on Preventing and Combating Trafficking of Women and Children for Prostitution. Given the cross-border nature of the problem, and the long, often powerful reach of the traffickers, dealing with the problem will not be easy. Indeed, because of the many cross-border legal, policing, migration and security issues involved, the drafting process was considerably complex. It was the expectation of SAARC that the Convention would have been signed at the Eleventh Summit which had been scheduled to take place at the end of last year in this very capital, Kathmandu. The purpose of the Convention in general is to deal with the prevention, interdiction and suppression of trafficking; to help the return and integration of those affected and to combat international prostitution.

The Convention specifically recognizes the importance of treatment, care and reintegration as being among the most urgent considerations. Article IX of the Convention deals with these aspects and requires each of the Signatories to provide facilities for homes and shelters for victims and that they will receive legal advice, counselling and job training; and health care and psycho social facilities with which this HRD Course is particularly concerned. This Course will, therefore, be a vital support for the implementation of the Convention.

Meanwhile, South Asian Governments and the SAARC Secretariat have -received many suggestions for improving the Convention, for broadening its scope and including additional aspects to make its impact more comprehensive and effective. Many of the concerns have been legitimate and have been put forward by dedicated personalities and responsible organizations deeply committed to combating trafficking and the sexual abuse of children under which category most of the trafficked persons in South Asia fall. These include views from organizations such as Maiti-Nepal which are doing tremendous work providing medical, psychosocial care and attention to those who have fallen victim to sexual exploitation and abuse. It is the intention of SAARC to have the Convention in its present form adopted when the Summit takes place in Kathmandu. Heads of State or Government were themselves conscious of the view that the scope of the Convention be broadened to cover purposes other than prostitution. It is, therefore, the expectation that on signing of the Convention at the forthcoming Summit, and following a period of further consideration, a Review Conference of State-Parties or a similar mechanism be adopted to revisit the Convention in order to strengthen its effects taking into account serious views of those who have made them known.

There is then likely to be greater involvement of civil society, South Asian organizations involved in dealing with this problem, UN organizations like UNICEF, WHO and IMO, for example, and others. It has been noted at the Social Summit last month in Geneva that Governments alone can hardly tackle the complex economic, social, cultural and personal distortions of which crimes such as sexual exploitation and abuse of children and the symptoms. Partnership is essential to address them effectively.

In conclusion, let me express my thanks to ESCAP, the Child Workers in Nepal, the Japanese Government and the World Education for making this HRD Course possible.