Today, November 20, 2024, we celebrate World Children’s Day, established in 1954 to support the fundamental rights of children and adolescents.
An important day to raise awareness and promote the cohesion of the international community in its commitment to improving the well-being of the little ones. 35 years after the creation of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Adolescent, approved by the United Nations in 1989, unfortunately children’s rights are still trampled upon in many areas of the world, or they live in poverty.
UNICEF numbers
The data published on the Unicef website are thought-provoking. Here are some:
- Over 300 million children live in extremely poor families, surviving on less than $2,15 per person per day;
- Approximately 400 million children under the age of 5 are regularly subjected to physical assault or corporal punishment at home;
- More than 1 billion children currently live in countries that are at “extremely high risk” for the impacts of climate change;
- Every 4 minutes, somewhere in the world, a child is killed by an act of violence;
- 400 million children live in or flee conflict zones.
The main events for the day
Also this year, UNICEF Italy and the National Association of Italian Municipalities – ANCI are launching the “Go Blue” initiative and are inviting all municipal administrations to light up a monument or building in the city in blue to symbolically remember children’s rights.
As many as 251 municipalities have joined the initiative, including many provincial capitals such as Alessandria, Ancona, Ascoli Piceno, Bologna, Brescia, Catania, Cremona, Crotone, Fermo, Florence, Genoa, La Spezia, L’Aquila, Mantua, Messina, Modena, Naples, Novara, Palermo, Pavia, Pisa, Potenza, Rimini, Savona, Syracuse, Terni, Turin, Trapani, Udine, Venice, Verona, Vibo Valentia. A march was organized in Milan to celebrate the Day during the traditional event “I march for rights”. Participants will leave this morning from Piazza XXV Aprile at 9.30:XNUMX to arrive at the Sforza Castle, where they will be welcomed by a representation of the city institutions, by workshops on the themes of emotions, well-being, rights and inclusive language, thanks to the collaboration with Pop-Up Festival and by short films on inclusive language thanks to the collaboration with Circonvalla Film.
For the important day too RAI 1 is moving. Rai has set an appointment with solidarity for UNICEF “NOI E..”, hosted by Mara Venier, on air tonight.
