[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 99 (Friday, June 16, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1278]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 COMMEMORATION OF THE FIFTH ANNUAL DAY OF THE AFRICAN CHILD, JUNE 16, 
                                  1995

                                 ______


                          HON. ELIOT L. ENGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, June 16, 1995

  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in commemoration of the fifth annual 
Day of the African Child. It was 19 years ago on this date that a 
massacre of schoolchildren took place in the town of Soweto, South 
Africa. Starting in 1991, the Day of the African Child has served as an 
annual awareness day, alerting the entire world of the continued 
progress and the daily plight of children throughout the African 
continent.
  This year's campaign is particularly special because we explore the 
challenges and celebrate the progress encountered by children in armed 
conflict. It is chilling to realize that according to a recent study 
commissioned by UNICEF 75 percent of children interviewed in Rwanda had 
witnessed mass killings in multiple areas. Equally shocking is the 
reality that boys as young as 11 years old are being recruited to serve 
in the armed forces of Africa's war-town countries.
  The Day of the African Child is not just a time to recognize hardship 
but also an opportunity to dispel fallacy. It is important to realize 
that the continent of Africa is not a land of conflict-laden countries 
destined for decay and destruction. It is a place of potential growth 
and change, hope and progress.
  Just in the last 35 years, the infant mortality rate has been cut in 
half and the average life expectancy in Africa has jumped 13 years to 
the age of 54. Over 80 percent of children living in urban areas have 
access to safe drinking water and African governments have provided 
safe drinking water and adequate sanitation to an additional 120 
million people during the 1980's alone. In the area of education, over 
two-thirds of school age girls are enrolled in primary school. That's 
25 percent more than in the 1970's.
  While these advances are impressive they also vividly illuminate the 
daunting reality; African children have yet to even approach the basic 
humanitarian standards enjoyed by their counterparts in industrial 
nations. It is for this reason that we observe the Day of the African 
Child. And it is for this very reason that today and every June 16 we 
must remember not forget, recognize not sidestep, and reinvigorate not 
doom the plight and the promise of the children of Africa.

                          ____________________