Irfan Hameed
United Nations Universal Children’s Day was established in 1954 and is celebrated on November 20th each year to promote international togetherness, awareness among children worldwide, and improving children’s welfare. November 20th is an important date as it is the date in 1959 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. It is also the date in 1989 when the UN General assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child.Since 1990, Universal Children’s Day also marks the anniversary of the date that the UN General Assembly adopted both the declaration and the convention on children’s rights.Mothers and fathers, teachers, nurses and doctors, government leaders and civil society activists, religious and community elders, corporate moguls and media professionals as well as young people and children themselves can play an important part in making Universal Children’s Day relevant for their societies, communities and nations .Universal Children’s Day offers each of us an inspirational entry-point to advocate, promote and celebrate children’s rights, translating into dialogues and actions that will build a better world for Children.
To celebrate this year’s Universal Children’s Day, UNICEF has invited children from around the world taking over key roles in media, politics, business, sport and entertainment to voice their support for millions of their peers who are unschooled, unprotected and uprooted on 20th November.According to Private news channel , various public and private organizations will have to arrange seminars, conferences, rallies and walks to show the plight of those children who are deprived of basic amenities of life.Many of the countries respected this recommendation and the Universal Children’s Day has since been annually observed on November 20 every year.Save the Children is pleased to commemorate Universal Children’s Day this year with an event on November 21st that will focus on the theme, ‘Stop Violence Against Children’.
According to UNICEF, every year millions of children around the world become victims of untold violence. Children in every country, every culture and at every social level face various forms of abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence. The abuse takes place at home, in school, in institutions, at work, in the community, in armed conflict and natural disasters.Much violence against children, such as corporal punishment and sexual abuse, remains legal and socially approved in many countries.The violence children face takes many forms, such as exploitation and abuse, trafficking, physical and humiliating punishment, harmful traditional practices (including early marriage and genital mutilation/cutting) and recruitment into armed forces and groups.
