Honorary Graduates
Orations and responses
Response by Graça Machel
10 JULY 1997
Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor, Members of the Congregation,
Distinguished Guests,
On behalf of my fellow honorary graduand and my colleagues in the study team,
as well as myself, I would like to thank you for this great honour.
It is a privilege to accept it in the name of all children in situations of
armed conflict throughout the world. Indeed I am very humbled for having
witnessed their pain and suffering, this recognition gives them a platform and
puts them high on our agenda.
On a scale that threatens to overshadow our efforts in development, education
and the entrenchment of human rights, the thirty armed conflicts currently
taking place world-wide are damaging the lives of millions of children and
women.
Many do not survive. In the past decade alone millions of children have been
killed, seriously injured or permanently disabled as a direct result of armed
conflict.
Even more die of malnutrition and disease because food crops, water supplies,
health services, families and communities are destroyed and disrupted.
Countless children have had to witness, or even take part in, horrifying acts
of violence. The survivors are often scarred for life, feeding a culture of
violence in their societies.
For too long all this has been tolerated as an unfortunate but inevitable
side effect of war.
In reality, children have become deliberate targets. In contemporary warfare
nothing is spared or held sacred. There are no safe havens - not hospitals, not
schools, not places of worship. The distinction between combatant and civilian
is eroded with ruthless cynicism.
The report we submitted last year to the United Nations General Assembly
places these concerns on the peace and security agenda. It makes practical
and achievable recommendations, giving special emphasis to the role of civil
society in protecting children from armed conflicts.
Its fundamental premise is that children have no part in war. Its
indisputable conclusion is that urgent and concerted action is needed, that
those who are concerned with human rights and development, and with political,
military and humanitarian issues must co-operate closely.
Our work has reached a critical moment.
The report lays the situation bare.
There is a growing movement world-wide that is determined to give visibility
to children affected by armed conflict. That movement is the fruit of work by UN
bodies, governments, non-governmental organisations, and all sectors of society,
in particular, women and children.
The University of Essex has also contributed to this process, and I wish to
take this opportunity to extend my sincere appreciation to all our partners for
their indispensable support. I have no doubt that they and the University will
continue to be part of the implementation process.
For all of us must now do everything we can to protect children and ensure
them a dignified legacy and a better future.
All of us have an obligation to advance this global agenda; to promote and
sustain co-operative action until children are safe. Indeed, the issue today is
children affected by armed conflict, but we could be talking of child labour, of
child prostitution and rape, of street children, of children abused, even in the
home - the picture would be always gloomy. The reality is, our societies are
failing to love, to cherish, to nurture children. All of us should give
strength to a new morality that places children at the centre of our commitment
to human rights, peace and development.
Children in situations of armed conflict, demand our political will, our
vigilance, and our co-operation. We must no longer fail our children.
Thank you.