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Universal Children’s Day was established by the United Nations in 1954 to encourage understanding between children and promote children’s welfare around the world. It is held on 20 November, the same day the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959 and signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989.
© UNICEF UK Education
These Rights are simplified in a beautiful book produced by Unicef called “For Every Child”.
This beautifully illustrated 40 page paperback book, with a foreword by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, features a drawing by a well-known children’s illustrator.
You can buy copies direct from Unicef.
“We were all children once. And we all share the desire for the well-being of our children, which has always been and will continue to be the most universally cherished aspiration of humankind.”We the Children: End-decade review of the follow-up
to the World Summit for Children
Report of the Secretary-General (2001)
Primary school children in class, in Harar, Ethiopia. UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe
By resolution 836(IX) of 14 December 1954, the General Assembly recommended that all countries institute a Universal Children’s Day, to be observed as a day of worldwide fraternity and understanding between children. It recommended that the Day was to be observed also as a day of activity devoted to promoting the ideals and objectives of the Charter and the welfare of the children of the world. The Assembly suggested to governments that the Day be observed on the date and in the way which each considers appropriate. The date 20 November, marks the day on which the Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, in 1959, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in 1989.
In 2000 world leaders outlined the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015. Though the Goals are for all humankind, they are primarily about children. UNICEF notes that six of the eight goals relate directly to children and meeting the last two will also make critical improvements in their lives.
