UN standing ovation for Kenyan teenager

Millicent meets President of the UN General Assembly Srgjan Kerim

19 December 2007: 15 year-old Millicent from Kenya gained a standing ovation from governments and international agencies for a rousing speech challenging the United Nations to deliver real action to improve children’s lives.

Addressing the delegates at a special session of the UN General Assembly in New York, Millicent urged governments to keep their promises; to renew their commitments to children and to make children their number one priority.

She called on leaders to provide more support to children affected by HIV and AIDS, to education, and to try and break the poverty cycle.

Listen to us!

“Let our voices be heard in our local community, in our schools, and our parliaments,” she said. “Wherever decisions are made that affect us we want to be involved.”

Millicent was giving the closing speech on behalf of young people at the UN meeting “A World Fit for Children” on December 13. She captivated delegates with a powerful and sometimes humorous call for endless resolutions to improve children’s lives to be replaced by real action and solutions.

The teenager comes from one of the poorest settlement areas outside Nairobi where Plan works with the local community. She has been promoting children’s rights for several years, by contributing to the UN study on violence against children through school club and community activities, as well as supporting and promoting the toll-free helpline, Childline Kenya.

TV debate

Millicent was selected as their spokesperson by 90 child delegates who attended the UN. In addition to giving the closing speech at the General Assembly she also took part in an ‘intergenerational dialogue’ with world leaders, including Bishop Desmond Tutu, hosted by TV news station CNN and attended a town hall meeting with the executive directors of UN agencies.

The special session “A World Fit for Children + 5 years” was devoted to following up how far the governments in the world have come in fulfilling the commitments made at the 2002 UN General Assembly Special Session on children.

Read about Plan’s global campaign announcement at the UN