Open Letter from the Child Rights Caucus to the Honorable Tommy Thompson, US Secretary of Health and Human Services and the United States delegation to the UN Special Session on Children:

As non-governmental organizations from the United States and around the world that are devoted to promoting and protecting the rights of children, we are deeply disappointed in the position that the United States has taken during the negotiations on the outcome document for the Special Session related to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, sexual and reproductive health education and services, and the death penalty. These positions neither reflect the reality of children’s lives, nor the international framework of children’s rights that has developed over the last twelve years. By rigidly maintaining its positions on these issues, the United States is putting the success of this Special Session in jeopardy.

We welcome the United States’ support of the Optional Protocols to the Convention, and its ratification of ILO Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor. However, the US’ attempt to sideline the Convention on the Rights of the Child in the outcome document is an attack against the global consensus on the human rights of children that has built over the last twelve years. The Convention on the Rights of the Child is not only the most comprehensive international legal standard for children, but also the most rapidly and widely ratified treaty in history. It is the logical starting point and centerpiece of any international plan of action for children. Although not a state party, the United States should acknowledge the Convention’s international significance as the global standard for children’s rights.

The U.S.’ position of promoting abstinence as the primary strategy for dealing with adolescent sexuality is both naïve and inappropriate. For the millions of girls who marry before age 18 or who are forced into sexual relationships, abstinence is not an option, and lack of access to appropriate education and services can be life-threatening.  At previous international conferences, governments including the United States agreed that adolescents have the right to sexual and reproductive health education, information and services.  This right must be reaffirmed.

We regret that the United States is one of a very few countries that continues to use the death penalty for offenses committed before the age of eighteen.  We welcome the fact that some U.S. states are ending this practice, as have the vast majority of countries around the world.  The international community has nearly universally condemned the use of capital punishment against juvenile offenders.  This norm should be acknowledged in the outcome document. 

The Outcome Document of this U. N. Special Session on children has the potential to have strong influence on government policies and children’s lives worldwide.  Like all other countries, the United States may register reservations on particular paragraphs of the outcome document.  We implore the United States government to use the recognized U.N. process for reservations and not to further impede the progress of nations on the Outcome Document.

The Child Rights Caucus encompasses hundreds of national and international non-governmental organizations from around the world that are committed to promoting and protecting the rights of children.

May 9, 2002