Providing equal and improved health care for all children

Agenda 21 recommends programmes to establish and strengthen preventive and curative health facilities, which include women-centred, women-managed, safe and effective reproductive health care and affordable, accessible, responsible planning of family size and services, as appropriate, in keeping with freedom, dignity and personally held values. Programmes should focus on providing comprehensive health care, including pre-natal care, education and information on health and responsible parenthood, and should provide the opportunity for all women to fully breastfeed at least during the first four months post-partum. Programmes should fully support women's productive and reproductive roles and well-being and should pay special attention to the need to provide equal and improved health care for all children and to reduce the risk of maternal and child mortality and sickness.

This strategy features in the framework of Agenda 21 as formulated at UNCED (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), now coordinated by the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development and implemented through national and local authorities.

The UN/ECE Århus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (1998), recognizes the important role of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and the value of public awareness for environmental policy-making. In this context, it is important to acknowledge that children are not only consumers with rights, but also citizens who can play an active role in society for their own protection. In 1996, children were declared full citizens of the European Union.