| JOHANNESBURG--"We
are hungry, we are starved, we are impatient,
life's too hard. The people in the cities don't
remember
us or pity us, we are just a bunch of kids. But
there'll be no celebrations if the future generations
are always on the skids. Will you help us? Won't
you try? This is urgent-We may die!"
The
excerpt, taken from a collection of poems written
in 1995 for the launch of South Africa's National
Plan of Action for Children, has as much relevance
today at the World Summit on Sustainable Development,
as it did almost ten years ago.
At press
conference room at Sandton Convention
Centre yesterday, five children
from different corners of the world,
ages 6 to 14, urged world leaders, "the
big people, the grown-ups down here" to
listen to what they have to say.
Their
message: "Listen, involve
us, and take action right now." The
older ones spoke articulately and with
confidence, while the youngest of the
group froze, unfamiliar with the sudden
wave of photographer's flashes. Tiyiselani
Manganyi of South Africa, wide-eyed and
motionless, pulled back into his chair
and timidly said, "We do not want
the big people to cheat on children."
Analiz
Vergara from Ecuador, said, "Children
should be more represented at the summit,
because we are not only the future of
the world, but of the present. We deserve
to live in a healthy environment and
we are trying to get the governments
to hear us and hear our challenges and
act on them." According to Vergara,
in developing countries like Ecuador,
poor education and poverty take a toll
on the environment. "In Ecuador,
there is a low understanding of the value
of biodiversity. There is a lot of destruction
of the resources, we are illegally selling
our species to other countries and we
are destroying forests by building industries," said
Vergara.
To Vergara,
the concept of sustainable development
means getting countries to
develop economically without ruining
natural resources. "We need to put
more attention on nature and less on
money. If we wait until the future, the
situation will get much worse and it
would be more expensive to solve the
problems," Vergara said.
In their
address to world leaders during the
plenary earlier in the day, three
of the five child speakers, who are also
the representatives of the International
Children's Conference of the United Nations
Environment Programme, expressed disappointment
on behalf of the children of the world.
Analiz, Justin Friesen of Canada and
Mingyo Liao of China said, "Adults
are too interested in money and wealth
to take notice of serious problems that
affect our future. You said this summit
is about taking action. We need more
than just your commitment--we need action.
We need more than just your motivation--we
need action."
They
asked governments to act to ensure
that all people from developing countries
have free access to clean drinking water,
and to sign, ratify and implement the
Kyoto Protocol. "We are tired of
wondering whether it will snow in the
middle of the summer," the children
said. They also asked their governments
to limit the number of cars per family,
provide free primary health care for
children, eliminate deforestation, and
invest more money helping the poor instead
of "attending so many meetings."
"What we have now is 'us versus
them.' This needs to become 'us and them'--young
people and adults, rich and poor people,
and rich and poor countries," they
said. "Recognize the importance
of listening to the voices of children
and do not walk off forgetting about
the challenges."
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