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ex (Second from left), 14, plays basketball with a friend, in the city of Olongapo, in the province of Zambales, the Philippines. The garbage landfill behind them has been his family’s home for two years. According to a UNICEF study, about 28 million children are homeless globally due to violent conflict. Almost the same number have had to abandon their homes in search of a better life. UNICEF/ UNI122436/Giacomo Pirozzi
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.
Background
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.
Schoolchildren laughing and waving hands. Kazakhstan. Photo: World Bank/Maxim Zolotukhin
