++Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, speaks of children

Curiously, given the focus on how we as a nation will respond to the needs of children, ABC Williams recently spoke to a conference on children. Below is a excerpt:

ACNS 4328 | LAMBETH | 10 OCTOBER 2007

Archbishop of Canterbury - children 'not expendable'

In a video address to the Kids Company conference taking place today, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, outlined his support for Kids Company and the work that they do, saying that the greatest privilege was being able to hear from the children directly: "what they think a real childhood is like, we all need to hear that, they know what they are missing, they know something of the privation that's at the heart of their lives. They know what they need and we need to hear it."

The Archbishop also called on the government to invest in the vulnerable children in our society:

"It's been said sometimes that you can gauge the temperature, the kind of moral climate of a society by looking at the way it treats its most vulnerable people.... What do we do on behalf of those who don't have voices, who don't have leverage, how do we bring their voices into public discussion? Are we a society where people are prepared to advocate for those who don't have voices of their own? Above all, are we prepared to put the necessary resource, skill and commitment, into the nurturing of human beings?"

Archbishop Williams goes on to say:

"Look around at our society and very often it seems as if we're prepared to countenance the fact that a very substantial percentage of our young people are expendable, they're left on the side of the road as we go on".