International Children’s Day and Concern for Rights and Welfare of Children | ||
The United Nations’ (UN) International Children’s Day is an occasion intended to promote the welfare of children and an understanding between children all over the world. UNICEF-the United Nations International Children’s Fund- coordinates this special day, which also works towards improving children’s welfare. Many schools and educational institutions try to inform children of their “rights” according to the Declaration of the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Teachers mo tivate their pupils to think about the differences between themselves and others and explain the idea of “rights”. In countries where the rights of children are generally well-respected, teachers draw attention to situations in countries where this is not the case. Background On December 14, 1954, the UN General Assembly recommended that all countries should introduce an annual event -known as international Children’s Day from 1956 -to encourage understanding between children all over the world and to promote the welfare of children. At that time, the UN General Assembly recommended that all countries should establish a Children’s Day on an “appropriate” date. Many of the countries respected this recommendation and the international Children’s Day has since been annually observed on November 20. On November 20, 1959, the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child and on November 20, 1989, it adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Since 1990, International 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. UNICEF’s logo consists of an image of a mother and child, a globe, olive branches and the word “UNICEF”. All parts of the logo are in UN’s blue color, although it may be presented in white on a blue background. Children’s Day in Different Countries In Iran International Children’s Day is usually celebrated on 17th of Mehr (the sixth month of the year in the Iranian Calendar which falls in October). Many countries, including Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, hold International Children’s Day on November 20. International Children’s Day is not observed in the United States, although a similar observanceknown as National Child’s Day- is held on the first Sunday of June. In Japan, Children’s Day is observed as a national holiday called “Kodomo no Hi” and is celebrated annu ally on May 5th as a part of the Japanese Golden Week festival held in honor of children for celebrating their happiness. However, countries such as Australia and India have chosen different dates during the year to celebrate this day. In Australia the fourth Wednesday of October marks this event, while India celebrates November 14 for this purpose. Sri Lanka celebrates its children day on 1st of October. Traditionally Russia celebrates not only the first smile of summer, but also its 30 million youngest citizens on 1st of June, drawing attention to the importance of child welfare and the need to protect children’s future. The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is the most widely approved human rights treaty in the world. Today, 193 states have approved the CRC. In fact, only two countries in the world — Somalia and the United States — have not yet given the CRC legal force, although both have signed it. Despite the worldwide consensus on the importance of our children, 70% of the approximately 11 million child deaths in every year are due to six potentially preventable causes: diarrhea, malaria, neonatal infection, pneumonia, preterm delivery, or lack of oxygen at birth. These deaths occur mainly in the developing countries. An Ethiopian child is 30 times more likely to die than a child in Western Europe. Among deaths of children, South-central Asia and sub-Saharan Africa has the highest number of newborn deaths. The HIV/AIDS epidemic is also killing many children every year, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. The number of children orphaned and vulnerable to HIV/AIDS is estimated to reach 25 million by the end of the decade, 18 million of them in sub-Saharan Africa. This, along with only modest progress fighting malaria, means the threats facing child survival are as critical as ever.
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