Minister of Children and Family Affairs: Valgerd Svarstad Haugland

10th Anniversary Celebration of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Oslo City Hall, Nov. 20th1999.

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen.

I am very happy to be here today, together with so many people, on the tenth anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. And I'm particularly happy that so many children and young people are here, both on the stage and in the hall. I feel proud, but also humble, that UNICEF wished to work with Norway to help bring this celebration to Oslo today. I will also thank the Mayor of Oslo – Per Ditlev-Simonsen – for letting us have this arrangment in the Town Hall.

It is a great honour for a Norwegian Minister for Children to meet with other Ministers for Children from all over the world. A visible and binding sign that children's rights are taken seriously.

As a worldwide organisation, UNICEF has an extremely important role to play in encouraging countries to protect the interests of children, and to monitor the conditions in which the children of the world live. It is an inspiration to us here in Norway to be working with UNICEF on this 10th anniversary celebration. Children and the media are central to this co-operation, and it is my great privilege to present to you the background to and the main messages of The Oslo Challenge which I`ll be launcing.

The partnership between Norway and UNICEF arose from Norway's work with children and the media. Norway had implemented a long-term plan of action against violence in the visual media. At the same time, a pilot project was conducted using media workshops to instruct children and young people in film, video and other media production.

UNICEF wanted to create a working group with Norway for the implementation of media-related articles in the Children's Convention. It quickly became clear that a wide variety of excellent projects on children and the media existed all over the world and that these should be made known to a wider audience so that others could draw inspiration from them.

An impressive list of media experts from all corners of the globe has taken part in this work and many of them are sitting here today. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for the work you have done to make the Oslo Challenge possible. The final pieces of the Oslo Challenge were put into place at The International Workshop on Children and the Media at Gardermoen.

Why is the question of children and the media - including new media - such a burning one as we go into a new millennium? And why is this question so closely linked to the protection and rights of children?

Children and young people pluck out images and messages from a vast electronic department store. At an early age, children have already acquired a mental archive of images from all corners of the world. It is, therefore, important that we ensure that the media help children and young people build up mental archives which are both a pleasure and a resource, and not the cause of worry and confusion.

An understanding of community, a capacity to empathise with others, and the talent to see the world from other points of view are some of the most important and fundamental qualities a person can have. These are the skills a person must get if he or she is ever to be able to understand this rich and diverse world in which we live. And as adults we must pass on to our children precisely these skills. Tolerance, respect for others, and an openness towards that which may seem alien, require much empathy. The media, and particularly their use of role models and intense images, can offer us insights into other cultures and ways of thinking. In so doing, the media can help us develop important qualities of tolerance, respect and openness.

Advertising and other media have become steadily more body-fixated. Images of sex and the human body are exploited even when the products and programmes promoted have nothing at all to do with the body.

Many of the actors and models appearing in what could be termed 'adult commercials' are very young. There is good reason to believe that this fixation on the body in advertising and in programmes for young people influences moral standards and our own self image.

Happiness and success, as represented in the commercial media, is often closely bound to consumption and luxury. We know that the earth's resources set a limit on human activity. Is it, then, sensible to teach children and the young that the only way to success and happiness is through an increased consumption, which is incompatible with our desire for sustainable development.

The media is highly influential, not least in cultural matters. This underlines just how important it is to secure for children and the young an inclusive media based on reality, and one that uses a language they recognise and understand. It is also important to ensure that young people's everyday life - what they do and where they live - is reflected in the media. It is equally essential that the media provide them with relevant information about the lives of people living in other parts of the world.

Role models and images from the media can help to nurture and develop a positive, caring attitude towards our fellow man. But images which show contempt for human values, glorifying the use of violence and portraying violence as a suitable method of solving conflicts, give the wrong signals about what is acceptable and appropriate.

The connection between violence in society and violence in the media is central to the debate about the relationship between children and mass communication. The growth in the depiction of violence in the media is increasingly cited as an explanation for the rise in violence in society. The reasons, of course, are many and it would be difficult to state with any certainty whether the media play a role in youth violence. But violence in the media can increase the problem for children and young people with violent tendencies. The media can greatly influence our ideas and norms, and their pictures of violence may lead to an increasing ambivalence in the community. On the other side of the coin, many people become anxious after witnessing violence in the media.

Many countries have established public bodies to monitor and censor the media. But this sort of reaction doesn’t just stem from the public and the authorities; many central figures and organisations in the media business itself are now beginning to say 'enough is enough', that the situation has already gone beyond acceptable limits.

Voluntary organisations, both in Norway and internationally, have become actively engaged in the issue of children and the media. In Norway a wide range of organisations joined together to mount a campaign of action directed against Norwegian television stations. The group campaigned, among other things, for the introduction of a “watershed” for Norwegian television broadcasts. I am glad to say the campaign was successful and now programmes showing sex scenes or violence are not shown before 9 p.m., the time most children are watching.

Sadly, many children grow up in an environment with bad role models, where care is inadequate, and life a series of conflicts solved onely by use of force. Such children can find, in increasingly cynical media, all the support they need for unacceptable and antisocial behaviour. And this can result in tragedy for the child, the family and the community. It is our responsibility to help ensure that children and young people grow up in an environment - and this includes a media environment - which encourages them to build a safer future for themselves.

Our children and youth should, therefore, have access to information on all issues relevant to them. This information must come from a variety of sources and reflect a diversity of opinion. If this information is to be of use, it will need to be delivered appropriately with respect to age and ability. The media has a wide reach and can add punch to even the driest information, using creative, up-to-the-minute techniques. The media have, therefore, enormous possibilities to play a role in the education of children.

As Siv Krøs has already pointed out, children and young people have the right to express themselves on issues which concern them. If this right to freedom of expression is to be made real, they must have a thorough understanding of the media. Public debate takes place nowadays mainly via the media. Children and young people cannot afford simply to be spectators, but should also become educated in the use of different types of media. They should be given access to media production so they can express themselves as programme presenters and makers. The exhibition “Barns øyne” - "Through a child's eye" - on display in the hall today shows how children's everyday experiences can be recorded and passed on through newspapers, exhibitions and books.

Given the chance, no one is more engaged or enthusiastic than children and young people. They must be allowed to participate, actively, in determining their own lives and futures. If we don't grant this right to our children, they will grow up lacking confidence in themselves, and in their ability to make a positive contribution to society. We can't expect young people, as soon as they reach the age of majority, to suddenly begin acting as independent and responsible fellow citizens, taking an active part in society, if they have never had the opportunity to do so during their youth.

Television and radio programmes created by children and young people are important. They increase awareness of the media and stimulate freedom of speech. For children and young people to be able to take part in community debate and planning, information on these issues has to be available in an easy form.

Because the media have an international impact, it is particularly important that we cooperate across national borders to ensure that children's and young people's interests are best protected. The international workshop at Gardermoen yesterday and the day before was an important contribution to this. It will also be a priority to follow up on a European Commission initiative concerning the protection of minors and human dignity in audio-visual and information services.

The United Nation's Convention on the Rights of the Child addresses children's relationship to the media. Article thirteen deals with the child's right to freedom of speech. Article seventeen deals with the important task mass communication has in ensuring that children have access to information, as well as promoting children's social, spiritual and moral well-being, and physical and mental health. To achieve this, the article emphasises, among other things, the importance of developing suitable guidelines to protect the child from information and material which could be damaging to his or her well-being. Setting into practice the ideas laid down in the Children's Convention must be the most important aspect of all future political activity concerning children.

The goal of the workshop was to develop an international co-operation wich aims to

• suggest practical ways to realise the ideas of the Children's Convention with regard to human rights
• it aims to encourage all lands to work actively with children and the media
• it aims to begin the work necessary to establish international norms for the protection of children from the damaging effects of the media
• it aims to focus attention on the positive role which the media can play in promoting the rights of the child
• it aims to assess the need for international co-operation in the development of knowledge and information on children and the media.

I feel very honoured to be able to launch "The Oslo Challenge" on behalf of UNICEF and Norway. I am very much looking forward to seeing how the international community meets the challenges put forward.

The Oslo Challenge will, with your help, put the rights of children and youth on the world political agenda. It is not just an invitation to discussion, but a call to action.

The Oslo Challenge is aimed at everyone with responsibility for and a commitment to the rights of children and young people.

The Oslo Challenge represents an opportunity for all responsible people to ensure that the media play a central role in the fight for the rights of children and young people wherever they live.

The Oslo Challenge will be a powerful instrument in helping to promote children's and young people's rights.

The Oslo Challenge requests all media to work hard to ensure children have access to relevant and understandable information.

The Oslo Challenge is an instrument to promote children's and young people's participation in, and contribution to, the development of society.

The Oslo Challenge gives the media a considerable responsibility to see that children and young people have the opportunity to exercise their right to the freedom of speech.

The Oslo Challenge makes the media responsible for ensuring that children and young people are not exposed to portrayals of graphic violence.

The Oslo Challenge is a challenge to the authorities in all countries to give children and young people necessary instruction in the use of media as an instrument to realise their rights.

We must all take individual responsibility for the execution and realisation of the Oslo Challenge. We must also stand together so that we can exercise a force greater than any one of us can exercise alone. Together with UNICEF, Norway will help to make sure that The Oslo Challenge is further developed as a practical tool in the promotion of the rights of children and young people.

If we want our children to grow up happily and safely; if we want our children to develop a positive outlook on life and a caring attitude towards others; and if we want them to be able to set sail safely into a peaceful and rewarding future, then we must give them a solid basis of knowledge and grounding in human values to take with them on their journey.

I will then introduce The Oslo Challenge in its own words.

• Children's right of access to the media, including new media
• Children's right to media education and literacy
• Children's right to participate in the media
• Children's right to protection from harm in the media and violence on the screen
• The media's role in protecting and promoting children's rights