NEW YORK (FSMUN/FSMIS) — The first lady of the Federated States of Micronesia, Iris G. Falcam, recently headed the FSM delegation to the 27th special session of the United Nations General Assembly on Children.
The week-long special session was held in New York from May 6 to 10. It aims to ensure that every child, without exception, is assured the right to dignity, security and self-fulfillment. The session called for global solidarity on the rights of children around the world.
The first lady joined heads of states and governments, and over hundred high-level government delegations from around the world as participants of the special session. The unique session boasted a collage of parliamentarians; delegates from non-government organizations, businesses and the U.N.’s first-ever General Assembly with children present.
The over 350 child delegates presented to the Assembly a joint statement that declared: “We are not the sources of problems; we are the resources that are needed to solve them. We are not expenses; we are investments. We are not just young people; we are people and citizens of this world. You call us the future. But we are also the present.”
The session evidenced an important factor in the world today—youths constitute a major portion of the population of many developing countries.
In the FSM, more than half of its 107,000 population is under the age of 20.
Given the figures, Falcam addressed the importance of youth in the FSM as the immediate future of the nation. She stressed to the Assembly that “the measure of our success as a people as we seek to climb the development ladder during the next several decades will be determined by the quality of life we offer our children here and now.”
Falcam also discussed FSM’s efforts during the past decade such as the elimination of polio and neonatal tetanus as well as the drastic reduction in infant and maternal mortality.
But the first lady said more needs to be done in education and literacy. She touched on the potential health threats of climate changes and challenges offered by new Information technologies and said the plight of FSM’s children is tied to broader poverty reduction measures.
During the special session, FSM became signatory to two Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child:
• The Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict;
• The sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography.
