Children’s Day is celebrated across the world on different days to honour children. Many countries such as India observe it on November 14 to give significance to children as the future of the nation. The United Nations celebrate the day annually on November 20 to mark the anniversary of when the historic Declaration of the Rights of the Child was adopted by the UN General Assembly.
Universal Children’s Day was established in 1954 and celebrated each year to promote children’s rights, improve welfare, and increase awareness among children. This year has more significance as it marks 30 years since world leaders adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child – an international agreement on childhood.
World leaders made a historic commitment to children by adopting the landmark agreement. This has now become the most widely ratified treaty in the world and has helped transformed children’s lives. Unfortunately, still not every child gets to enjoy a full childhood and the innocence of many gets cut short.
There are many reasons to be hopeful about the next generation. Over the past thirty years, children’s lives have improved in many ways. There has been a more than 50 percent reduction in deaths of children under five since 1990 and the proportion of undernourished children have halved. However, millions of children are still left behind and their childhood is changed rapidly.
According to UN estimates, 262 million children and youth are out of school, 650 millions girls were married before their eighteen birthday, and one in four children will live in areas with extremely limited water resources by 2040. It is our responsibility to demand that leaders from government and business communities fulfill their commitments to take action for child rights. Many children are already speaking out, claiming their rights and leading the way for the world they deserve.
The children of today are facing a new set of challenges and global shifts unimaginable to their parents. The climate is changing beyond recognition, inequality is deepening, and technology is changing how we perceive the world. Childhood has changed completely and we must ensure that every child has every right. We must listen to children and young people about the issues that concerns them and work together to resolve modern problems with innovative solutions.
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