Somalia 'to ratify UN child pact'

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Somalia has vowed to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child - a move that would leave the US as the only nation not to back the accord.

The UN, which is celebrating 20 years since the agreement was put into force, welcomed Somalia's announcement.

But analysts say the Somali government has little authority and its rulings are largely unenforceable.

The US helped draft the agreement, but conservative politicians have argued its measures impinge on sovereignty.

The BBC's East Africa correspondent Peter Greste says it is hard to think of a place where children are more at risk than Somalia.

The country is in its 18th year of a crippling civil conflict in which youngsters are routinely forced to fight, and child mortality is among the highest in the world.

So our correspondent says the decision to ratify the agreement will be seen as an important symbolic step.

Unicef, the UN's children's agency, welcomed the announcement and reminded the Somali government that ratifying the convention was a commitment to protect children's rights.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8370357.stm