May 11, 2002	Saturday	Safar 27, 1423

UNITED NATIONS, May 10: As the three-day UN summit on children drew to a close on Friday delegates continued to work on a consensus draft of a final document which could be acceptable to all member states.

The United States joined Muslim nations and the Vatican in opposing any language or wordings which could be construed as an endorsement of abortion rights.

The conference was long on rhetoric about the sanctity of childhood but short on consensus on the question of education.

The conservative US delegation also opposes a UN treaty on children’s rights that almost every other country has ratified — the United States and Somalia are the only holdouts — on the grounds that codifying such rights impinges on the rights of parents.

Pakistan told the delegates to the special summit that it believes that children’s issues come under the purview of human rights and human development.

Federal Minister Atiya Inayatullah said in her address that in the National Perspective Plan 2002-2012 there is a focus on three areas: (i) Affordable access to universal primary education, especially for girls. (ii) Focus on reduction of 700,000 deaths of children under 5 each year. (iii) Elimination of child labor by 2005.