[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 99 (Friday, June 16, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1272-E1273]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               IN SUPPORT OF THE DAY OF THE AFRICAN CHILD

                                 ______


                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 15, 1995

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today before this 
distinguished body to express my strong support for the Day of the 
African Child and the efforts of UNICEF to help the children of Africa.
  The Day of the African Child was founded to commemorate the lives of 
the children who were massacred in Soweto, South Africa, on June 16, 
1976. They joined together to rally against the sinister scourge of 
apartheid, and the Day of the African Child is a chance for us to unite 
against another blight; impoverishment. It is also an opportunity to 
bring public attention to a forgotten realm; a place where 30 million 
children are malnourished and many have lost their homes and families. 
These children's lives are irrevocably scarred by the mental wounds of 
the violence that ravages their homelands. However, it is also a time 
to reflect upon the many positive programs that have come to fruition. 
Many African nations have achieved real progress in attaining the needs 
of their children. Unfortunately, we are constantly reminded of the 
threat to the fragile lives of children by the civil strife that was 
most recently, and most graphically, illustrated in the carnage of 
Rwanda. That is why the theme of this years Day of the African Child is 
``Children in Armed Conflict.''
  Now in it's 5th year, the Day of the African Child utilizes the 
backdrop of the struggle and sacrifice of those heroic children in 
Soweto, to provide a forum for understanding and recognizing the many 
challenges that African children face today. It is a day to transcend 
the man-made boundaries that keep us apart, and to recommit and focus 
our efforts to the protection and development of our most precious 
resource. We must work together to stop the violence, illness, and 
instability that continue to plague the children of Africa.
  Rwanda is a recent example of the traumatizing and tragic effect 
armed conflict on children, the innocent victims. In the strife that 
has spread across Africa in the last decade, an estimated 2 million 
children have been killed. Children have borne witness to unspeakable 
acts of brutality. As the attention of the world community has been 
focused on other parts of the world in the last 10 years, the situation 
has not improved. The impact of the crises are just as severe as the 
famines and armed conflicts of the 1980's. More ominously, the reaction 
of the world to these tragedies has been dangerously slow, and donor 

[[Page E1273]]
fatigue is a prevailing ailment that taints relief efforts.
  However, the Day of the African Child is also a day to recognize and 
acknowledge the gains that African countries have had in helping the 
plight of their children. The situation is, indeed, grave, but contrary 
to popular misconception, African nations have taken considerable steps 
in improving the lives of their children. We must wholeheartly direct 
more resources toward education initiatives and community rebuilding. 
We do have the capability, resources, and the conditions that are 
favorable to succeed in creating a better life for our children. We can 
fight disease, illiteracy, and malnutrition with simple, low-cost 
solutions. It is estimated that a child in Africa can be educated for 
about $20 a day. With the goal of universal primary school access, the 
U.N. Children's Fund [UNICEF] has set the years between 1995 and 2000 
as the target period to increase primary school enrollment and 
retention rate. This achievable goal of basic education is also geared 
to correct the tremendous disparity in the enrollment of female 
children.
  In addition, the United Nations has successfully carried out Days of 
Tranquility during which children are immunized against the six major 
childhood killers. Warring parties have also been convinced to let 
convoys carrying desperately needed food and medicine to the innocent 
women and children trapped in war-torn areas.
  For some the Day of the African Child will be a day to rejoice and 
enumerate the notable progress that has been achieved to ease the 
suffering of our planet's most precious citizens. For others, however, 
it will be a day to reflect, and to remind us, of the existing 
adversity and suffering that challenges all of us to preserve in our 
efforts.
  I urge all my colleagues to recognize this important day which not 
only acknowledges the struggles of the African youth, but of children 
everywhere, as they will someday inherit the mantle of freedom and 
liberty that we hold so dear.

                          ____________________