Listen To The Future, Stand Up For Children's Rights

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“On World Children’s Day, we celebrate the youngest members of our human family. But today is also a moment to recognize the enormous challenges children face in our deeply divided, tumultuous and often violent world.”- UN Secretary-General António Guterres. The state of our children needs much to be desired. All across the planet the welfare and security of children can be described as unsatisfactory. World Children’s Day was first established in 1954 as Universal Children's Day and is celebrated on 20 November each year to promote international togetherness, awareness among children worldwide, and improving children's welfare. World Children’s Day is the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF’s) global day of action for children, by children, marking the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The theme this year is “Listen to the future, stand up for children’s rights. The World Health Organization (WHO) declares that the world has experienced dramatic progress in young child survival over the past two decades. The global under-five mortality rate declined from 77 per 1000 live births in 2000 to 39 per 1000 live births in 2017, or a 47% reduction during this 17-year period. Despite this progress, 5.4 million children under five years of age died in 2017 with half of these deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa. Additionally, there are an estimated 153 million children worldwide are orphans (UNICEF). The International Labour Organization (ILO) states that there are 168 million child laborers, accounting for almost 11% of children. Disturbingly, there are 263 million children and youth who are out of school according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific Cultural Organization (UNESCO). An estimated 61 million primary-school-age children are out of school; 53% of them are girls (UNICEF). There are 69 million children worldwide who suffer from malnutrition (World Bank). In 2017, 75% of malnourished children lived in less developed regions. The WHO adds that there are 66 million primary-school-age children who attend classes hungry across the developing world, with 23 million in Africa alone. Children represent roughly a third of the world's population but account for almost half of all people living in extreme poverty. There are over 250 million children living in countries affected by conflict. Regrettably, one in four of the world's children live in a conflict or disaster zone. More than 45,000 people have been killed since October 2023 in the ongoing conflict in Gaza and Israel, about 12,500 of whom were children. Furthermore, hundreds of children have been killed in Lebanon by Israeli airstrikes. Undoubtedly, the future of childhood hangs in the balance if urgent action is not taken to safeguard children’s rights in a changing world. Finally, World Children’s Day provides each of us an inspirational entry-point to advocate, promote and celebrate children's rights, translating into dialogues and actions that will create a better world for children. In the words of Jennifer Moorehead, Save the Children’s Country Director, we’re plunging into a humanitarian crisis that is first and foremost a children’s crisis. Wayne Campbell is an educator and social commentator with an interest in development policies as they affect culture and or gender issues. waykam@yahoo.com @WayneCamo © #WorldChildrenDay

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