Global concern for the health and welfare of children and adolescents The central objective of the World Health Organization (WHO),namely,"the atfainment by all peoples of the highest possible leve/of health",by definition embraces children and adolescents.Specific concern for the lives,health and well-being of children and young people is,however,voiced in a series of separate international agreements and initiatives.These agreements,which are briefly described below,reflect not only this broader collective concemn but also the intemational consensus on what needs to be done. Convention on the Rights of the Child(CRC) Parties to the CRC agree to 'tale all appropriate The human rights of children and the standards to which all governments must aspire legislattve,administrattve, in realizing these rights,are concisely articulated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (3).This United Nations convention was drafted as part of a global socialand educational measures to protect the child consultation process,spanning a 10-year period,and was adopted during a United from all forms of phiysicalor Nations General Assembly session in November 1989.The Convention affirms that mentalviolence,fnfury or each child has the right to the highest attainable level of health and the right to a safe abuse,neglect or negligent environment. treatment,maltreatment or exploitation,including sexual As the majority of United Nations Member States have ratified the Convention,it abuse"(3). represents a powerful statement of the collective views on the responsibilities towards children.At present,however,there is some concern that the intentions of the Article 19 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child Convention are not being fully implemented in practice and that a more concerted effort is required to fulfil its commitments. Millennium Development Goals In September 2000,the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a series of Millennium Development Goals.One of these goals,the fourth,is the reduction,by two thirds,of the mortality rate in the under-fives between 1990 and 2015(4).Because of the large number of deaths from infectious diseases and neonatal causes in children under the age of 1 year,injury only represents between 1.5% and 2.0%of deaths in this age group.However,for children aged between 1 and 4 years,injuries are a more significant cause of death,accounting for just over 6%of all deaths. United Nations Member States are committed to meeting all eight Millennium Development Goals by 2015. However,recent reports and meetings have expressed concem over the current pace of progress towards meeting these goals and,as in the case of the CRC,greater efforts are called for in order to remedy the situation. A world fit for children In May 2002.the United Nations General Assembly held a Special Session on children.The outcome was a document entitled"A world fit for children",which sets out a series of goals for children and adolescents One of the goals in the plan of action prescribed in this document is specific to injuries and calls upon all Member States to reduce child injuries due to accidents or other causes through the development and implementation of appropriate preventive measures(5). 2




























































































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