European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 13, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Daily Magazine document to define rights of children by Michael Roddy associated press several Hundred prisoners of War under age 15 Are being held in and International rights organizations say thou Sands More child soldiers have and for Iran in the War be tween the two in Colombia and Indian girls As Young As three work As House servants for White according to a United nations which also says child prostitution is widespread in parts of Asia and latin around the children under age five die every and half those deaths could be prevented by Rudi Low Cost health and nutrition according to the Chil Drens organization statistics like those make some people say not enough is being done to protect the rights of the worlds most defenceless and least Independent citizens some childrens advocates support expanded nutrition and education and others pin their Hopes on a proposed United nations convention that for the first time would define the rights of children under a recognized document of International such a supporters at the very least would shame some govern ments into it would establish a reporting system and then you would have nations realizing that they cant go up there and we Haven done a thing for 10 said Rosalind head of a nongovernmental committee of Unicof in new York that is studying the the proposed by a polish delegation to Unicof in 1979 during the International year of the has been under study for five years and is being created article by article in annual sessions lasting one week by a subgroup of the commission on human rights in it is intended to give some Teeth to a  declaration of the rights of the which stated children shall enjoy special Protection and should be provided the Means to grow in a healthy and Normal but which had no Legal under International nations that ratify a convention Are saying they agree to abide by its the articles of the convention on the rights of the child Deal with health drafting Chil Dren As soldiers and studies by the United nations and other organizations indicate that conditions for children often fall Short of pro posed standards in a report two years estimated that of the 560 million children younger than an average of die each children Are increasingly victims in a photo the rights of the worlds children have come under armed according to statistics provided by a five percent of casualties in world War i were civilians while the proportion leaped to 50 percent in world War 70 percent in Vietnam and As High As 90 percent in As of last was holding 300 iranian child soldiers at a special com Pound West of according to War correspondents and other thousands of children Are fighting for Iran or serving As human although Tehran denies the charge and says there Are no child studies report child prostitution or Selling children for Domestic service is commonplace in Many it is current practice in Bolivia and Colombia for Little Indian girls to be adopted from the age of three by White says one the same 1983 report of the economic and social Council says child prostitutes Are common in parts of Asia and latin the number of homeless or abandoned children is estimated by Unicof sources to be As High As 80 with some 70 million of those in developing Many of them Are in latin where Paul uni chefs special assistant coordinator for called the situation Abys while Many of the problems exist in the worlds poorer some critics charge that even Wel Todo nations Are not doing All they in the United census figures show that almost 22 percent of children younger than 18 were living below the poverty line in an increase of Al most 35 percent in four according to James Legal director of the Washington based childrens defense he said that As a Many of these children receive inadequate nourishment and health the United states has the Wea Kest system of the Western industrialized societies to assure children get what they need to grow into productive Weill How much Impact the proposed convention would have is what conventions do mainly is make nations update their Domestic Law to con said Michael United nations representative in new York for the Geneva based defense for children inter National rights other observers think the convention is getting bogged Down in East West they note that the United the Western bloc has a history of not ratifying such Conven while East bloc nations often ally themselves with the third world in sup port of conventions but Jamison state depart ment Delegate to the convention drafting said the United states had not yet taken a position and that a convention on children May Well transcend ideological we want to see As Good a convention As Oie that represents a contribution to the whole she its not an East West As an alternative to Legal of Unicof has undertaken an inter Nal study to come up with what it Hopes will be some Low Cost programs to Aid Unic efs Altsman said among the subjects to be examined Are children and exploitation of children for labor and and the growing ranks of Street noting that 99 percent of uni chefs work is in developing he said ultimately the organization hoped to come up with Low Cost ways to Deal with child trauma in the third july 1985 the stars and stripes Page 13