youth. In December 1981, a seminar had been held for governmental and non-governmental organizations on the theme of the rights and problems of youth in Suriname. In the regulations, account was taken of the need for parental authority not to be the sole prerogative of the father and for the age of majority to be reduced from 21 to 18. They also provided for the elimination of discrimination between legitimate and illegitimate children and for the obligatory hearing of minors over the age of 12 in matters concerning their own interest. 40. Quoting the words of Miss Eglantyne Jebb, whose name would always be linked with the first Declaration of the Rights of the Child, she said that the real enemies of the human race were poverty, squalor, disease and ignorance, which drove generation after generation of children, East and West, to a subnormal existence. The trouble was not lack of money but attitude of mind. It had been estimated that what was spent annually on luxuries and amusements could carry out adequate educational and nurture programmes. It was children who paid the heaviest price for the short-sighted economic policies, political blunders and wars of their elders. I ... A/C. 3/39/SR.49 English Page 13 41. Mr. NGO (Democratic Kampuchea), speaking on agenda item 97, said that the Kampuchean children currently living in areas under foreign control were being denied their fundamental rights and freedoms. They were not allowed to use their own language and were being forced to learn Vietnamese. Thousands of children had been sent to Viet Nam for political indoctrination in order to serve its expansionist and warmongering policies in South-East Asia. 42. In the light of that situation, the progress made in elaborating the draft convention on the rights of the child was gratifying. There was every hope that 
**Analysis**
The text appears to be discussing the rights and problems of youth, specifically in the context of international organizations and conventions. It touches on themes such as poverty, education, and freedom, which suggests that the category should be related to human rights or social issues.

**Category**
Education, Humanitarian aid and relief