Openingstoespraak van Hare Majesteit de Koningin der Belgen, ‘Children’s Rights at a Crossroads: Evolving Humanitarian Crises’, Egmontpaleis, Brussel

This week marks a significant milestone as we celebrate the thirty-fifth anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Over the past three and a half decades, this global treaty has made a profound impact on the lives of millions of children around the globe. It has driven legislative reforms, shaped policies, and spurred actions that have transformed the way we protect our youngest citizens and have empowered them as agents of change.

Unfortunately, however, and despite the progress made, we face a tragic reality: the rights of millions of children remain at risk.

Worst of all is the violence children endure in conflict zones. It is estimated that four hundred million children - roughly one in five - are living in or fleeing from conflict zones. Many are being injured, killed, abducted, or sexually abused.

But children’s rights are seriously threatened elsewhere too and that is why today’s conference addresses the wider-ranging concept of crisis situations, so as to be able also to cover issues such as:

• Rising levels of poverty and inequality
• Denial of access to education
• Health issues such as global pandemics
• Forced migration
• Effects of climate change

Half of the world’s children currently live in countries at extreme risk from climate change. All around the world, children feel that climate-related issues are extremely important to them and their opinions should be proactively sought and given due consideration in the design and implementation of policy measures to tackle climate change.

The combined impact of multiple crises—such as years of COVID-related disruptions, an impending global economic recession, and the rise of disruptive technologies—is eroding wellbeing across the globe. This is taking a significant toll on mental health, including that of children and adolescents.

In all of these ways, children’s rights are threatened.

In my role as SDG Advocate and Honorary President of UNICEF Belgium, I have seen first-hand the impact of these issues on children and especially girls during my travels and field visits. I have spent time with youngsters in a refugee camp in Bangladesh, visited schools with UNICEF in Ivory Coast, met children in Vietnam and on all of these occasions, I have been deeply moved by their courage, resilience, their undimmed aspirations to have a normal life, and their burning desire to learn. I always come out of these encounters with divided feelings: immense sadness at what they are going through but also hope and admiration inspired by their strength and determination.

This suffering and the denial of millions of children’s rights must stop. The focus of today’s conference is to shine a light on how crisis situations particularly affect children’s rights. There is indeed a pressing need to attract renewed attention to the urgency of implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

UNICEF has recently released its annual ‘Report on the Situation of the World’s Children’. This important document reaffirms the critical role of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to address the pressing issues children face today.

The Report explores actions we can take today to build a better world for children tomorrow. At this critical juncture in the history of children’s rights, the Report outlines several scenarios to paint a picture of what childhood could look like in 2050. It focuses on three megatrends: the climate crisis, disruptive technologies, and demographic change, giving projections of how these may impact children’s lives.

The challenges to children's rights demand targeted investments to better fulfil the Sustainable Development Goals. A united effort is essential: a broad coalition of the public sector, organizations, institutions, civil society, corporations and individuals working together to drive this critical work forward, to put in place systems that can anticipate and respond flexibly and sensitively to protect and enhance children’s lives.

To truly address the root causes of disasters, we must shift away from a 'business as usual' mindset or we risk falling short of achieving our goals. It is crucial that children and young people are explicitly considered and included in our solutions, ensuring their voices are heard and that they actively participate in decisions and actions that affect them, so that their voices can have a meaningful impact.

Together, we need to guarantee that all children, no matter where they live, no matter who they are, can experience a real childhood. Now is the time to recommit to the rights of every child.

Thank you.