World Children's Day

A "Children's Day", as an event, is celebrated on various days in many places around the world. Major global variants include an International Children's Day on June 1 as adopted in the former Communist bloc, and a Universal Children's Day on November 20, by United Nations recommendation. Many nations declare days for children on other dates.

The World Conference for the Well-being of Children in Geneva, Switzerland proclaimed June 1 to be International Children's Day in 1925. It is not clear as to why June 1 was chosen as the International Children's Day: one theory has it that the Chinese consul-general in San Francisco (USA) gathered a number of Chinese orphans to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival in 1925, which happened to be on June 1 that year, and also coincided with the conference in Geneva.

The holiday is celebrated on 1 June each year. It is usually marked with speeches on children's rights and wellbeing, children TV programs, parties, various actions involving or dedicated to children, families going out ,etc...

It was adopted mostly by former and current Communist and Socialist countries.

Declaration of the Rights of the Child

...he may have a happy childhood and enjoy for his own good and for the good of society the rights and freedoms herein set forth, and calls upon parents, upon men and women as individuals, and upon voluntary organizations, local authorities and national Governments to recognize these rights and strive for their observance by legislative and other measures progressively taken in accordance with the following principles:

Principle 1 The child shall enjoy all the rights set forth in this Declaration. Every child, without any exception whatsoever, shall be entitled to these rights, without distinction or discrimination on account of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status, whether of himself/herself or of his/her family.

Principle 2 The child shall enjoy special protection, and shall be given opportunities and facilities, by law and by other means, to enable him/her to develop physically, mentally, morally, spiritually and socially in a healthy and normal manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity. In the enactment of laws for this purpose, the best interests of the child shall be the paramount consideration.

Principle 3 The child shall be entitled from his/her birth to a name and a nationality.

Principle 4 The child shall enjoy the benefits of social security. He shall be entitled to grow and develop in health; to this end, special care and protection shall be provided both to him and to his mother, including adequate pre-natal and post-natal care. The child shall have the right to adequate nutrition, housing, recreation and medical services.

Principle 5 The child who is physically, mentally or socially handicapped shall be given the special treatment, education and care required by his/her particular condition.

Principle 6 The child, for the full and harmonious development of his/her personality, needs love and understanding. He/she shall, wherever possible, grow up in the care and under the responsibility of his/her parents, and, in any case, in an atmosphere of affection and of moral and material security; a child of tender years shall not, save in exceptional circumstances, be separated from his/her mother. Society and the public authorities shall have the duty to extend particular care to children without a family and to those without adequate means of support. Payment of State and other assistance towards the maintenance of children of large families is desirable.

Principle 7 The child is entitled to receive education, which shall be free and compulsory, at least in the elementary stages. He/she shall be given an education which will promote his/her general culture and enable him/her, on a basis of equal opportunity, to develop his/her abilities, his/her individual judgement, and his/her sense of moral and social responsibility, and to become a useful member of society.

The best interests of the child shall be the guiding principle of those responsible for his education and guidance; that responsibility lies in the first place with his parents.

The child shall have full opportunity for play and recreation, which should be directed to the same purposes as education; society and the public authorities shall endeavor to promote the enjoyment of this right.

Principle 8 The child shall in all circumstances be among the first to receive protection and relief.

Principle 9 The child shall be protected against all forms of neglect, cruelty and exploitation. He/she shall not be the subject of traffic, in any form.

The child shall not be admitted to employment before an appropriate minimum age; he/she shall in no case be caused or permitted to engage in any occupation or employment which would prejudice his/her health or education, or interfere with his/her physical, mental or moral development.

Principle 10 The child shall be protected from practices which may foster racial, religious and any other form of discrimination. He/she shall be brought up in a spirit of understanding, tolerance, friendship among peoples, peace and universal brotherhood, and in full consciousness that his energy and talents should be devoted to the service of his/her fellow men/women.

UNO -841st plenary meeting, 20 November 1959