児童の権利条約採択30周年国連総会ハイレベル会合における石兼公博大使によるステートメント
令和元年11月21日
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Mr. President,I would like to join our other colleagues in celebrating the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. I also wish to take this opportunity to express our renewed, unwavering commitment to the promotion and protection of the rights of children. Japan will continue to take necessary measures to create a better and safer society for children.
Mr. President,
For Japan, the year 2019 bears additional significance: it marks the 25th anniversary since Japan’s ratification of the Convention and the 70th anniversary of Japan’s partnership with UNICEF. On this momentous occasion, Japan announced a pledge to fulfill the obligations stipulated in the Convention, as invited by the Committee on the Rights of the Child. We also joined the “the global pledge: for every child, every right”, in alignment with UNICEF’s global campaign. We encourage other Member States to join these initiatives to reaffirm their commitments to promote and protect children’s rights.
Mr. President,
Allow me briefly touch upon our commitments to the Global Partnership to End Violence against Children, initially declared at the Stockholm Solutions Summit in 2018.
Since joining the partnership, Japan, together with civil society partners, has made concrete steps toward formulating a National Action Plan to end violence against children. As Japan highly values the “meaningful participation of children”, we invited children in Japan to express their opinions online as part of its formulation. As a result, a number of children responded to questions concerning abuse, sexual exploitation, bullying and corporal punishment. Their candid opinions will be duly considered during the drafting process of the Action Plan.
Mr. President,
Japan has been leading the promotion of the Sustainable Development Goals, which aim to leave no one behind, especially the children. We believe that children and the youth play an important role in further advancing SDGs. In Japan, a series of commemorative events on the 30th anniversary of the Convention were held in cooperation with UNICEF, where junior high school students had the opportunity to discuss better implementation of SDGs with parliamentarians, government officials, and entrepreneurs. Japan reaffirms its commitment to creating an inclusive and participatory society in which everyone can reach their full potential.
Mr. President,
Japan is determined to make every effort to help achieve SDG target 16.2 in order to build a better world where every child can grow up in a violence-free environment and have hopes and dreams for the future. We would like to do so by working closely with civil society and in close collaboration with the international community, including the United Nations and other Member States.
I thank you.