§ Mr. ParryTo ask the Prime Minister if she will accept the invitation to attend the world summit for children to be held at the United Nations on 29 and 30 September.
§ Mr. RookerTo ask the Prime Minister if she proposes to accept the invitation to attend the United Nations world summit for children in New York during September.
630W
§ The Prime MinisterI attended the world summit for children in New York on 29 and 30 September where I gave an address on the role of the family in child development.
§ Mr. WrayTo ask the Prime Minister which new initiative designed to protect British children in the areas of(a) health, (b) education rights and (c) environment Her Majesty's Government are taking as a result of the recent New York international conference.
§ The Prime MinisterThe United Nations world summit for children drew upon the experience of developed countries in drawing up an action plan for improving the health and welfare of all children. We have already made substantial progress in most of the areas mentioned and are undertaking a number of relevant initiatives which, where appropriate, we will be progressing in co-operation with overseas countries.
Examples in the field of health care include the treatment and prevention of AIDS, childhood immunisation programmes aimed at controlling infectious diseases and better nutrition for pregnant mothers and young children.
In the United Kingdom rights to education are already provided for in legislation. Section 8 of the 1944 Education Act places a duty on local education authorities to "secure provision of Primary and Secondary schools". Futhermore, British education aims to develop fully the abilities of all children, with compulsory school starting at 5 years of age.
The White Paper "This Common Inheritance", which sets out the Government's environmental policies for the next decade and beyond, emphasises our duty to protect the environment for the benefit of future generations.
§ Mr. WrayTo ask the Prime Minister what specific measures Her Majesty's Government are proposing in order(a) to help children in the Third world in the areas of health and education and (b) to combat child labour exploitation both at home and abroad; and if she will make a statement.
§ The Prime MinisterThrough our aid programme we provide a great deal of assistance to children, both through our bilateral programme, and multilaterally through organisations such as UNICEF and WHO. Our policy is to support the development of health care services for all the family as the best way of improving child health.
In education, we support programmes of assistance to educational institutions in the developing world covering school buildings, training of teachers, the provision of materials and educational planning.
The Government deplore the exploitation of children for economic purposes. However in many countries children in the cities and the countryside have to work in order to survive. Widespread exploitation of children can only be overcome by the alleviation of poverty and by more appropriate policies for economic growth and social development. We are assisting in this through our aid programme.