We have come to understand the scale of the horror better, thanks to the work of many international and national agencies. But the statistics still have the capacity to shock us, and rightly so. With your permission I will recall a few. THe focus of my own work has brought home to me the impact of armed conflict on children. Over 70 million children between 10 and 14 years are employed in child labour.
Millions have no home or family.
All too often we think of thie mainly as an adult problem. But I think all of us will acknowledge that at times it is not easy to speak about the suffering of children without feeling tempted to despair. What leads us in this direction is an apparent discrepancy between our principles and our practice where children are concerned. After all, the modern world economy has the capacity to produce more than enough to meet their needs. And the international community has developed an unprecedented array of institutions, policies and declarations that proclaim the rights of children and other vulnerable groups.