by David Parker
　　Senior Program Coordinator of UNICEF Beijing

 
　　Introduction
　　The near universal ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, is an important step towaeds the realization of child rights throughout the world. With this important advance, UNICEF's approach to programming and advocacy are now guided by the fundamental principles enshrined in the Convention. An important change in UNICEF's programming parameters after the adoption of the Convention, has been the recognition that UNICEF's assistance now should also cover adolescents, and especially youth. At the East and Pacific Regional training workshop in child rights held for UNICEF officers in 1998, seven key areas of programming action were identified as important for protection of child rights. Adolescent and youth was one such identified key area. The workshop went on to say that programming for adolescent and youth is vital to prevent their poor growth and development, and avoiding intergenerational conflict. The emergence of program development tools such as the Life Cycle Framework, which allows governments and UNICEF to look at needs and rights of children based on different stages of life, for delivery more effective and more integrated using of holistic approaches of services to them will also facilitate UNICEF to increasingly focus on adolescent and youth groups. The explosion of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the increase in violation of adolescent children's rights such as in sexual exploitation, the effects of low education achievements of adolescents in poor families, has also impelled UNICEF to work with Government and NGO partners in support of adolescent and youth groups. However, UNICEF's entry into this programming area is gradual and based in a learning process approach. In this regard, we consider our support for children in the age group of 12 to 18 as programming for adolescent and support to people in the twenties to be programming for youth. However, this is an evolving area and these are not sent in concrete. We are still a learning organization in this area of programming, although world side, UNICEF already has many successes to cite.
　　UNICEF's Current Approach in Support of Adolescent and Youth in China
　　As in other programming areas in China, prevention is a key strategy in activities for adolescent and youth, in addition to capacity building and empowerment, and action for rehabilitation and social reintegration. In the current UNICEF assisted Country Program in China, there is no specific Adolescent and Youth Program. However, many program sectors have ongoing projects that serve adolescent and youth, women through enhanced partnerships, to protect rights of specific disadvantaged groups in society.
　　We wish to reiterate here that UNICEF's mainstream programs such as basic education, health and nutrition also support the development of youth and adolescents by helping the majority of China's children to go through adolescence into youthhood as educated and healthy individuals. These programs are developmental and primarily preventive in regard to the well being of adolescents and youth in that they provide a springboard for children to develop into empowered adolescents and youth; they also act as protective walls by preventing the bast majority of children being pushed into disadvantaged situations that pose a threat to the protection of rights of adolescent and youth in China. In this sense UNICEF's mainstream programs, which support infants, young children and mothers are its primary preventive and development strategy for protecting the rights of adolescent and youth. This presentation, however, will focus on projicts directly benefiting adolescent and youth.
　　UNICEF Assisted Adolescent and Youth Related Programs in China
　　The Street Children Project
　　The street children project is implemented by the Ministry of Civil Affairs and is designed to prevent children from running away from home, while providing rehabilitation and reintegration services for those who have done so. The majority of the children served by the Project are in the age group of 10-17 years. Studies reveal that reasons for running from home vary, and that most children are forced to run away due to overlapping reasons; some of which are family violence; divorce of parents; pressure to do well in school; poverty and attraction to city life.
　　The project provides shelter and food, simple medical care, and non-formal education in literacy and numeracy, orientation in one or two production skills, self-protection, and counseling for those runaway children who are taken into live in Street Children Protection Centers. Most children living in Street Children Protection Centers, over a period of time are united with their parent/s or relations and are generally referred back to school in their home township. However some runaway again. An innovation that is increasingly being tried out in some cities is the Street Desk Initiative. In this Initiative, the runaway children are encouraged to voluntarily drop-in at roadside desks established near railway stations for a hot meal, simple medical care and a big dose of sympathy and understanding. The children are not taken into Protection Centers against their will; although they are encouraged to come over voluntarily. Over time some children decide to come to Protection Centers.
　　The prevention strategy focuses on linking officials in receiving provinces and source provinces to work together to trace parents of runaway children, as well as to launch community education initiatives designed to inform communities about reasons for children running away and to seek their cooperation in reducing phenomena that push children into the street.
　　The Project influenced the policy decision to establish separate Street Children Protection Centers, so that runaway children could be separated from adult detainees.
　　Education for Out-of School Adolescent Girls
　　UNICEF supports two initiatives implemented through two Non-Government Organization in China, namely, the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) and the All China Women's Federation (ACWF) . Both initiatives cover girls in the age group of 12-17 years in poor counties. A substantial number of girls are from national minority groups.
　　These initiatives focus on helping girls to continue with their literacy and numeracy skill development. In addition girls are given the opportunity to learn life skills, self protection knowledge and awareness about their rights under the Convention. The CAST initiative applies life-skills approach, and fosters the development of peer-group facilitators for initiating activities for new groups of participants. Participation of adolescents in planning project activities is encouraged. The ACWF approach attempts to provide practical skills, such as skills in book-keeping, and knowledge on adolescent health. A primary focus of the ACWF initiative is to re-channel girls to formal schools including spring bud schools/classes. Both Initiatives attempt to develop self-reliance among girls and enhance their self-confidence and self esteem, so that the girls as they grow into adulthood can begin to exercise their rights of economic and social participation with abilities to look for and use opportunities for economic and social upliftment in a self-reliant way.
　　Youth Peer Education Initiatives for HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care
　　The Yunnan/Australian Red Cross initiative on HIV/AIDS prevention and care for young people has also received UNICEF support through its Mekong Sub Region HIV/AIDS Project implemented through the Yunnan Provincial Government. The main objective of this Red Cross Initiative is to provide HIV/AIDS information and prevention skills to young men and women who are vulnerable to HIV/AIDS through a Peer Education life-skills approach. Research has shown that knowledge by itself rarely changes or delays risk behaviour in youth. These initiative attempts to improve skills of young people in decision-making, resisting peer pressure, and trougy a process of internalization and learn by doing approaches develop safe behaviours that will protect them from HIV and AIDS.
　　UNICEF financed the design and production of IEC materials as well as the Youth Peer Education Training Manual. In 1999 UNICEF sponsored a Youth Forum planned and implemented by Yunnan/Australian Red Cross which enabled youth from Yunnan and other provinces to share experiences and ideas about HIV and peer education. In year 2000 UNICEF will support the Yunnan/Australian Red Cross Youth Peer Education Initiative to be expanded into 6 more interior counties in Yunnan, as this Yunnan/Australian Red Cross Initiative was recommended as a innovative approach for youth that needs to be replicated more widely by the China UNAIDS Theme Group.
　　Project Against Trafficking Women and Children
　　The most recent UNICEF initiative in the area of adolescents and youth is the project designed to eliminate Trafficking of Women and Children. The Project lunched in early 1999, is implemented through the Ministry of Public Security.
　　The practice of selling and buying women and children rampant in China prior to 1949 was virtually eliminated in the 1960s. With the opening policies and travel between provinces being liberalized the problem began to re-emerge in late 1970s. Due to intensive campaign by the Public Security by late 1980s the magnitude was lessened. However, since 1990 criminal kidnapping gangs have appeared and these groups continue to abduct young women including those under 18 years of age. The abductions occur in the labor markets, stations and piers with the promise of employment and piers with the promise of employment or trade as the lure. Some of the girls and women abducted are also now forced onto prostitution.
　　The UNICEF cooperation with the Ministry of Public Security is designed to reduce the numbers of children and women being abducted, trafficked and sold and to ensure adequate and appropriate protection, recovery assistance and reintegration for those who have been rescued.
　　Towards meeting these objectives the Project has focussed its preliminary activities in 1999 on
　　-training police officers on child rights and other national laws that protect rights of children and women in order to provide knowledge and skills to policemen and women on how to protect rights of children and women who are recovered.
　　-advocacy, communication and social mobilization activities in source areas to educated women and girls on self-protection including knowledge of ruses adopted by men and women abductors, and mobilization of communities to organize themselves to prevent abduction and protect their children and women. Communication in receiving areas on awareness of existence of laws against purchase of women and children and the criminal nature of such acts and action to change traditional attitudes and beliefs that legitimize buying of wives.
　　In the future assistance will be provided towards delivery of recovery services for rescued women during their stay in Transition Centers through provision of counseling services, life skills training including reproductive health and women's and children's rights, and opportunities for small income generating work-tasks.
　　Involvement of Youth League in Promotion of Rural Sanitation
　　The UNICEF assisted rural sanitation Project implemented through the National Patriotic Health Campaign Office has mobilised the organizational and advocacy capacity of the Youth League in Anhui Province to launch an innovative sanitation promotion action in the Province. In mid 1998 under the guidance of the Anhui Youth Leagues from province down to village levels pledged themselves to take a leading role to act as change-agents in facilitating behavior change in the province for construction of sanitary latrines at family level. By the end of 1998, Youth League cadres in about 40,000 villages constructed latrines in their own households to provide a demonstration effect and catalyze action by fellow villages in following their example. As a result of this demonstration campaign 140,000 sanitary latrines have been constructed in Anhui province. The campaign continues in 1999, and is estimated that about 5000,000 sanitary latrines will be conducted during the year.
　　Youth League members The change agent role of Youth League members will not only be confined to promotion of construction of latrines by demonstration, but extend to providing knowledge on sanitary and personal hygiene, and personal hyscene practices by village households. Youth League has named November of each year as the campaign month for sanitation. Home visits by young people, use of local mass media, for promoting sanitary latrines construction and personal hygiene, and involvement of school children and young pioneers to monitor use of sanitary latrines and household and environmental cleanliness form and integrated part of the sanitation month campaign.
　　The Anhui Province Youth League has won a National Award for promoting sanitation in rural China, for their contribution in this UNICEF assisted initiative.
　　The Future Initiatives
　　The new country program of cooperation between the Government of China and UNICEF is currently under preparation. With lifestyle related behaviour increasingly affecting the lives of adolescents and young people such as in smoking, HIV/AIDS, drug users etc. And pushing of youth into vulnerable circumstances due to raped social and economic changes over which they have little control, a more comprehensive youth focussed strategy will be proposed to be included in the new country program. This strategy will be characterized by enhanced participation of adolescents and youth in program planning, implementation and monitoring; use of the change agent capacity and potential of youth peer-educators to facilitate change among peers; use of emerging IT technology and youth-friendly communication media to reach and influence their life styles; and community and family focussed interventions for reducing vulnerabilities in adolescents and youth of disadvantaged families.