UN Authority Figures

UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) Executive Board: China

China's one-child policy has been blamed for more families killing their daughters, who are traditionally seen as less able to get well-paid jobs than sons. Source: BBC News Magazine, October 29, 2015

Mission of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF): "UNICEF is mandated by the UN General Assembly to advocate for the protection of children's rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. UNICEF is guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and strives to establish children's rights as enduring ethical principles and international standards of behaviour towards children. UNICEF mobilizes political will and material resources to help countries, particularly developing countries, ensure a "first call for children" and to build their capacity to form appropriate policies and deliver services for children and their families. UNICEF is committed to ensuring special protection for the most disadvantaged children - victims of war, disasters, extreme poverty, all forms of violence and exploitation and those with disabilities. UNICEF responds in emergencies to protect the rights of children. In everything it does, the most disadvantaged children and the countries in greatest need have priority." (UN Children's Fund website, "UNICEF's Mission Statement")

Term of office: 2017-2019

China's Record on Children:
"[T]here were reports of babies sold to be future bride... The law forbids infanticide, but there was evidence that the practice continued... Female infanticide, gender-biased abortions, and the abandonment and neglect of baby girls remained problems due to the traditional preference for sons and the birth-limitation policy. There were between 150,000 and one million urban street children, according to state media... Kidnapping, buying, and selling children for adoption reportedly increased, particularly in poor rural areas... Media reports and experts sources noted, however, that as many as 70,000 may be kidnapped every year. Sex identification and sex-selective abortion...continued because of traditional preference for male children and the birth-limitation policy."
(U.S. State Department's Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2015, China)

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