CM/Res.1163 (XLVIII)
RESOLUTION ON AFRICAN CHILD SURVIVAL AND DEVELOPMENT AND UNIVERSAL IMMUNIZATION IN AFRICA
The Council of Ministers of the Organization of African Unity, meeting in its Forty-eighth Ordinary Session, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 19 to 23 May 1988,
Noting the OAU Secretary-General’s report and the UNICEF/WHO contribution to the African Child Survival and Development Initiative and Universal Child Immunization in the African Continent (Doc. CM/1505),
Recalling the OAU Assembly of Heads of State and Government resolution AHG/Res.163 (XXIII), of the Twenty-third Ordinary Session in Addis Ababa, in July 1987,
Considering Declaration AHG/ST. 4 (XVI), on the Rights and Welfare of African Child which recommended, inter alia, the formulation and implementation of programmes in the field of Health, Nutrition and Education, as part of national development plans, with a view to making the services universally accessible to all children within the shortest possible time,
Recalling various United Nations Pronouncements especially the 1959 Declaration on the Right of the Child and Resolution A/31/169 of the United Nations General Assembly proclaiming 1979 as the International Year of the Child, also the Proclamation of the year 1986 as Africa’s Immunization Year by the 35th Regional Committee of WHO for Africa (1985),
Determined to implement at national, sub-regional and continental levels and together with national international, non-governmental and private voluntary organizations the programmes undertaken to promote child welfare by providing facilities in the field of medical care, nutrition, education and other basic services,
Aware of the deep concern of African Member States about the future of African children as inheritors and keepers of African cultural heritage and custodians of tomorrow,
Further noting with interest the progress accomplished by UNICEF/WHO and the international community in reducing child mortality and morbidity through, among other interventions, immunizations,
Bearing in mind the objectives of the “Bamako Initiative” to achieve universal PHC for women and children as, set by the meeting of African Health Ministers, with the support of the Executive Director of UNICEF and Director-General of WHO,
Cognizant of the decision of the 23rd ordinary Session of the OAU Assembly of Heads of State and Government in July 1987, in Addis Ababa, to declare 1988, as the Year for Protection, Survival and Development of the African Child, using immunization programmes as a vehicle for achieving other wider goals,
Appreciating the efforts made by Member States to achieve the goal of universal child immunization by the year 1990 in spite of the world economic depression and its severe repercussions on the African Continent,
Taking note of the efforts undertaken within the framework of the preparation of the UN Draft Convention on the Rights of the Child:
CONGRATULATES the Secretary-General of the OAU on his report and collaborative initiatives with UNICEF, WHO, international community, NGOs and PVOs;
THANKS the Executive Director of UNICEF for his efforts to facilitate the implementation of Resolution AHG/Res.163 (XXIII) through the mobilization of resources for the survival and development of the African Child;
FURTHER THANKS the WHO Director-General for his efforts to accelerate primary health care implementation and in particular child immunization programmes in the African region;
URGES Member States to make full use of available resources in the continent to enhance the immunization coverage in order to reach the target of universal immunization of the African Child by the year 1990; and thereby combat the six major killer diseases of children;
FURTHER URGES Member States to strive to combat all malaria, diarrheal disease and respiratory infections, in order to substantially reduce child and maternal mortality rates by at least 50 percent by the year 2000;
CALLS ON Member States to increase the budgetary allocations to ensure sustainability of immunization programmes and combating childhood communicable diseases and further integration of these programmes into the National Primary Health Care Plans (PHC);
ENDORSES the “Bamako Initiative” to achieve primary health care of children and women, as a main means of maintaining the presently successful UCI Programmes in the 1990’s and FURTHER CALLS on Member States to strive towards making maternal and child health care available to all communities and peripheral districts by mid-1990s;
APPEALS to Member States to do everything possible to provide maternal and child health care to all communities and to all outlying regions by the mid-1990’s;
FURTHER CALLS ON Member States to undertake or continue their efforts to review the current legal codes and provisions relating to the rights of the Child, particularly by taking into account the 1959 UN Declaration on the Rights of the Child;
URGES UN General Assembly and the international community to work towards an early completion of the drafting of the “Convention on the Rights of the Child”, and its adoption by the General Assembly in 1989;
REQUESTS the OAU Secretary-General to further enhance his active role in this regard and to report to the OAU Council of Ministers at its Fiftieth Ordinary Session of the achievement made in this endeavor;
URGES the Executive Secretary of UNICEF, Director-General of WHO to assist Member States in their efforts to achieve the goal of universal immunization of African children by the year 1990 through financial, material and human support and to work closely with the OAU Health Bureau to achieve the targeted goals.