You need to get up in the morning and say, 'Boy, I'm going to - in my own stupid way - save the world today.'

...in serving the best interests of children, we serve the best interests of all humanity.

Instant telecommunication allows better and updated information, lessons learnt and problems encountered to be exchanged and debated, it alerts us more quickly to problems and brings to many households around the world visions and information which hopefully spur us to action.

The economic benefits of investing in children have been extensively documented. Investing fully in children today will ensure the well-being and productivity of future generations for decades to come. By contrast, the physical, emotional and intellectual impairment that poverty inflicts on children canmean a lifetime of suffering and want - and a legacy of poverty for the next generation.

What is needed now are increased efforts to promote youth participation and commitment; more services aimed at youth; more parental involvement; more education and information, using schools and other sites; more protection for girls, orphaned children and young women;and more partnerships with people with HIV and AIDS.

The real solution is to improve the incomes of the poor and provide their children with decent education.

It's estimated that there may be two hundred and fifty million children in the world engaged in some form of exploitative child labour.