STATEMENT BY MR LIM HUI XIANG, DELEGATE OF THE REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE TO THE 79TH SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON AGENDA ITEM 67, PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN, THIRD COMMITTEE, 10 OCTOBER 2024

Madam Chair,

1 Singapore aligns itself with the statement made by Indonesia on behalf of ASEAN. 

2 Children are our future. It is incumbent on all of us to do our utmost to protect and care for our children. The international community has recognised this on various instances, such as the Convention of the Rights of the Children which remains the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history. Under the 2030 Agenda, several targets including those under Sustainable Development Goals 3 and 4 on Health and Education respectively are focused on children. More recently at the Summit of the Future, we reaffirmed our commitment to children and future generations of the world in the Pact for the Future and the Declaration on Future Generations. The objective is clear: To create a brighter future for our children today, while safeguarding the wellbeing of future generations. 

Madam Chair, 

3 Singapore is a small city state without any natural endowments. As people are our only resource, protecting, nurturing, and educating our children are key priorities in our development journey. 

4 Singapore has one of the lowest child mortality rates in the world, and it is a safe country for children to grow up in. Our students have also consistently performed well in education. In the 2022 OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment or PISA, Singapore students outperformed their peers in mathematics, science, reading, and creative thinking despite disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

5 Nevertheless, more can be done to give every child a good start in life, and enable them to realise their full potential. I shall highlight three aspects of Singapore’s efforts.

6 First, strengthening support for children with developmental needs. Children with developmental challenges have diverse and unique needs. Some may require more specialised interventions at centres providing Early Intervention Programme for Infants and Children, or EIPIC. Singapore has more than 50 EIPIC centres today. To provide more timely support, we will launch four more centres this year and increase our capacity to serve 80% of children with higher needs by 2027, up from 60% in 2022.  

7 Second, improving access to affordable and quality preschools for children from lower-income families. Preschools play an important role in supporting children’s development and building strong foundations in literacy, numeracy and social-emotional competencies. To enable more children from lower-income families to reap the benefits of early childhood education, we will expand proactive outreach to encourage families to enrol their children in preschool and provide support to encourage regular attendance. Maximum childcare subsidies will also be automatically extended to eligible families. 

8 Third, ensuring our children’s readiness for a technology-driven future. Singapore has taken significant steps to develop students’ digital and artificial intelligence (AI) literacies through the formal curriculum and other enrichment programmes. For instance, we have launched programmes such as “Code for Fun”, so that all students aged 10 to 12 years old have the opportunity to develop computational thinking and coding skills. As technology continues to evolve quickly, “Code for Fun” will be reviewed regularly, with new content on AI and data literacy to be added next year.  

Madam Chair, 

9 While Singapore has made much progress, there is still a long way to go. We remain committed to ensuring that all children have a good start in life regardless of their background, and to working with others to ensure that no child is left behind. 

10  Thank you. 

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