On October 10, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, gave a statement before the Third Committee of the Seventy-fourth Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Agenda Item 68 (a,b), dedicated to the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Children. The statement was delivered by Monsignor Fredrik Hansen.

In his statement, Archbishop Auza stated that the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child is an opportunity to reflect on the Convention’s important contribution to promoting and protecting the rights and dignity of children throughout the world. The Convention recognizes the family as the natural and fundamental unit of society, he said, and children today face multiple challenges, with many of them still denied their rights due to poverty, conflict, inequality, and humanitarian crises.

He praised the Secretary General’s report for its focus on children without parental care. He emphasized the importance of respecting the rights of parents with regard to the education of their children and expressed concern about “comprehensive sexuality education” programs currently being promulgated, noting that sexuality education is the right, duty of responsibility of parents.