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

Northern Uganda presents a situation of extraordinary violation of the rights of children.

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.

While the technology revolution has yet to reach far into the households of those in developing countries, this is certainly another area where more developed countries can assist those in the less developed world.

When the lives and the rights of children are at stake, there must be no silent witnesses.

For example, UNICEF works with governments to change legislation such as in India where a law was passed raising the age of compulsory school completion to keep children in school and away from the workplace for longer.

And each of us can practice rights ourselves, treating each other without discrimination, respecting each other's dignity and rights.