On Wednesday, 24 October 2001, at 11:00 a.m. at United Nations Headquarters, Archbishop Renato R. Martino, Apostolic Nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, will deposit instruments of ratification of the two Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child which were adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 25 May 2000.

The Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography explicitly prohibits the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, and calls for legal protection against the sexual exploitation of children, the transfer of their organs, and forced labor. The Holy See will be the eleventh State to ratify this Protocol, adding to the required number of ten ratifications which allow the Protocol to enter into force.

The Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict expands the protection of children from recruitment for participation in armed conflict to the age of 18, and reinforces the prohibition of the recruitment of children under the age by armed forces distinct from the State. The Holy See will be the seventh State to ratify this Protocol. Only three more States must ratify it before it too will enter into force.

[01713-02.01] [Original text: English]