Download the Speeches of all Hon'ble Chief Justices & Judges in ...

a part of society by being given good education, good health care and proper nutrition.At the recent First Review Conference of the Ottawa Treaty which was held in Nairobi,Kenya, it was noted with concern that antipersonnel land-mines pose a threat to childrenwho are being injured, killed and orphaned. More often than not, there is inadequatemedical treatment and such children are often pulled out of school, limiting theiropportunities for socialization and education. The discrimination they face limits theirfuture prospects for education, employment or marriage.While we may take stock of our successes with pride, there are still a lot of challengesHon’ble Mr. Archibald Lesao Lehohla,The Deputy Prime Minister, Kingdom of that still lie ahead because hundreds of millions of children across the globe suffer eachLesotho addressing the Press Conference year from the root causes of the world’s insecurity today which is international terrorismand armed conflicts. There are cases of children in forced and bonded labour, childrenwho are sexual1y exploited, trafficked, those used as soldiers and those subjected to violence outside of armed conflict.In order to actualize the resolutions of the summit, Lesotho developed a National Plan of Action for children (NPA). Thereis the Multisectoral Task Force comprising of key Government Ministries such as Finance and planning, Health, Education,to mention but a few, which drew up goals for the sole purpose of identifying and allocating resources for children’sprogrammes on, inter-alia, increasing education targets for children, decreasing child mortality, improving child protectionthrough good nutrition, undertaking measures to respect International Humanitarian Law for the peace of the world’schildren.The Government of Lesotho has not been left behind in building a socio-economically secure and peaceful environment forchildren through holistic development and protection programmes. Towards this endeavour, the Government ratified theConvention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1992 and submitted her initial report on the implementation of the Conventionin 1998. The report which was examined in 2001, culminated in a model legislation of protection on children’s rights. TodayLesotho has introduced the free primary education programme, a draft bill on the protection and welfare of children, whichtakes on board the protection of children with HIV / AIDS, children with disabilities, child orphans to mention but a few. AnNGO coalition dealing with children’s rights has been established and is working well with the Government. In order toaddress the national disaster of HIV / AIDS, the Special Envoys of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, on HIVand AIDS, and the Humanitarian Crisis in Southern Africa, visited Lesotho and through their efforts, a robust programmeof anti-retroviral treatment and food supply for the vulnerable and orphaned children was made possible.The issue of state responsibility should also be taken into consideration. A state is responsible if it fails to honour a treaty.The issues around the interests of children embodied in treaties should be treated with outmost responsibility by states.These issues of protection of children are becoming so deeply rooted in the conscience of mankind that they are becomingparticularly essential rules of general international law.With these ideas in mind, Chairperson, and under guidance from Article 51 (c) of the Constitution of India, the State ischarged with the responsibility to safeguard the interests of our children. Modalities like the World Parliament for Childrencould be looked into to achieve this noble goal.You will agree that the General Assembly Resolutions may be related to customary international validation of a customaryrule i.e. practice or usage and opinio juris. Unless one takes the extreme and untenable position that only physical actsconstitute practice, General Assembly resolutions which are collective pronouncements of States must be considered apart of state Practice.State practice is commonly defined as any act or statement by a state from which views about customary law can beinferred. It may be evidenced either in declarations of general principles or in resolutions dealing with particular cases.Resolutions that are adopted unanimously or nearly unanimously carry considerable weight as interpretations of the Charterand statements of law. Another relevant factor to the weight and effect of resolutions is their repetition or recitation insubsequent resolutions. The repetitive factor demonstrates continuity. So in general, resolutions on issues relating to childrenfall under the category explained above and therefore are forming part and parcel of customary international law.Nonetheless, chairperson, We do believe that discussions should continue around this issue of the World Parliament forChildren, so that nations can engage each other further and devise mechanisms for ensuring the enforcement of internationallaw, especially on issues of peace, for the good of our children and those yet to be born.--39--