Perish the thought that anything be put to a vote. That would have exhibited how deep ran the disagreements -- on giving teenagers access to medically induced pregnancy termination and on making sure that sex education is part of school curriculums, to name just two points of controversy.

The conference -- actually, a special session of the UN General Assembly -- was scheduled for last fall, but was put off until now for security reasons after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. A longer postponement might have been a better idea. Afte all, there was no great urgency attached.

About 60 heads of state or government showed up, including that well known defender of human rights Robert Mugabe, recently declared (again) president of Zimbabwe after a malodorous election.

President George H. W. Bush was in the large turnout of top leaders at the first children's summit a dozen years ago. Tommy Thompson, a cabinet officer, did duty for the US this time round, and most of the other industrialized nations had only cabinet-level representation.

True to form, UN officials hailed the plan of action that emerged from three days of public speechmaking and behind-the-scenes bargaining as "visionary." Han Seung-soo of the Republic of Korea, the Assembly president, called it a "practical and achievable checklist" that took account, he said, of the challenges and opportunities.

"Strong and action-oriented" was Carol Bellamy's phrase. She is the chief executive of Unicef, which promoted the exercise and, therefore, unlikely to say publicly what she may have thought, that results fell short of expectations. Perhaps her hopes were not all that high, anyway.

The hollowness of the consensus charade was on display in the reservations and "clarifications" voiced by delegates in the final hours, another ritual at these events. The US, conservative Islamic countries and the Holy See were odd bedfellows in opposition to the majority on a number of issues. Evidently, they share a refusal to believe that kids know about the birds and the bees, and the potential consequences of boy-meets-girl.

Not too many children in the Vatican state, perhaps, but don't Muslim teens experience raging hormones? They surely do here in the US.

One very good development at the session was the actual, real life participation of children. In Carol Bellamy's word, they added "freshness" to the debate. About 400 kids and teens took part in a youth forum and some 250 youngesters were included in their countries' fully accredited delegations. "They made it clear that they thought that there have been plenty of words in the past and plenty of promises, but it now is the time for action," said the Unicef chief.

The event inflicted the usual irritations on Manhattanites and others employed on the East Side or obliged to use the streets and avenues around the UN. That was inevitable, and it's something to be endured again, alas, in September, when the high-level segment of the annual General Assembly session is being brought forward to an unusually early date, for reasons not quite clear.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is considered much more friendly toward the UN than was his predecessor Rudolph W. Giuliani. As for ordinary New Yorkers, their patience must be wearing thin.