India, Nov. 11 -- UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell delivered remarks, as delivered on 10 November 2026, at the Paris Peace Forum: Child Summit, addressing President Macron and other leaders and urging that “children must come first” amid converging global crises.
Children First Declaration and Convention on the Rights of the Child
Russell said conflict, hunger, displacement and climate shocks are putting children’s lives at risk, while public budgets and international assistance are under severe pressure and technology is reshaping childhood faster than safeguards can keep pace.
She said children’s rights “do not disappear when disaster strikes or budgets come under pressure,” adding that protecting and upholding those rights ...