November 20

FMSI remind that November 20 of each year is celebrated as the international day for children. The United Nations General Assembly recommended in 1954 (resolution 836, IX) that all countries institute a Universal Children's Day, to be observed as a day of understanding between children and of activity promoting the welfare of the world's children. The date of November 20 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.

2012 marks the twenty-third anniversary of that date.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child around the world, including international agreements on human rights, is the most ratified. To date, in fact, 193 member states have ratified the Convention, but two – Somalia and the United States – have not yet given legal force to the Convention on the Rights, although both countries have already signed it.

Despite this worldwide consensus on the importance of our children, 70% of the approximately 7 million child deaths every year are attributable 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 world. An Ethiopian child is 30 times more likely to die by his or her fifth birthday than a child in Western Europe. Among deaths of children, South-central Asia has the highest number of newborn deaths, while sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rates.

FMSI and the Marist Brothers, while not forgetting all these elements (and others such as HIV / AIDS) that mark heavily the lives of children, focus their attention on the right to education.

According to UNESCO, 61 million children between 6 and 11 years are not yet in school. Of these, 44% are male and 56% are female, 31 million of these children live in sub-Saharan Africa and another 15 million in South Asia. These are the areas where we focus most of our projects.

To learn about initiatives and teaching aids for the day of children's rights, click on the following link.

United Nations website (in different languages) http://www.un.org/en/events/childrenday/

In italiano:          http://unicef.it/20novembre

En Français:       http://www.citoyendedemain.net/agenda/droits-enfante anche:

http://www.cndp.fr/crdp-toulouse/alae/spip.php?article73

En español:        Il video di SED: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fyZrUJ7tOCU#!

In English:           http://re-play.eu/universal-childrens-day-%E2%80%93-20-november-2011/

Em português:  http://www.unicef.pt/artigo.php?mid=18101111&m=2

                               Brazil: http://www.solmarista.org.br/; http://marista.edu.br/social/imas/e http://socialmarista.org.br/

                               http://br.guiainfantil.com/direitos-das-criancas/369-estatuto-da-crianca-e-do-adolescente.html