Durban, June 12: Unicef has urged African leaders to utilise their limited resources on investments in education and health sectors while providing equal rights and protection to children in their countries. "We all agree that in order to sustain human progress, a government must invest in its children", Unicef executive director, Carol Bellamy said yesterday at the 14th Africa economic summit of the World Economic Forum here.
"Doing so is both a moral and an economic imperative. Thus the well-being of your children should become the most important standard for measuring your individual achievement as leaders," she added.
More than 700 delegates, including some African presidents, Business and International Development Agency leaders, have come here to attend the three-day summit.
Her call is contained in a 50-page white paper entitled, "The young face of Nepad", a reference to the new partnership for African development, a movement founded last year by African leaders seeking to assert local accountability for the continent's destiny.
The summit will this year attempt to map out definite delivery plans for the economic regeneration of the continent through Nepad.
The summit spokesperson, Mark Adams, said in an interview that the three-day conference was structured in such a way that "clear and realistic time frames for roll-out, action and review" would emerge at the end.
The summit would strengthen the role of the African and international private sectors as key partners in achieving the goals, he said. Bureau Report