Child Rights Day celebrated in MyanmarUNICEF and the Child Focused Network Sponsor Rights-Focused Events for Children Yangon, 20 November 2004 – Today UNICEF is marking the 15th anniversary of the UN General Assembly’s adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) by supporting “Child Rights Day” festivities in Yangon and Mandalay in cooperation with the Department of Social Welfare and UNICEF’s partners in the Child Focused Network. Today’s events provide a chance for children and youth to learn more about the CRC, which affirms every child’s right to survival, development, protection and participation. “We commend Myanmar and the other nations of the world that have ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child,” said UNICEF’s Representative in Myanmar Carroll Long. “UNICEF places such an important emphasis on events like today’s Child Rights Day that can educate children and their families about children’s fundamental rights under the CRC.” “The protection of children’s rights is essential to Myanmar’s future development and prosperity, and all of us here today share a common obligation to protect and further these rights.” Attendees at today’s Child Rights Day celebrations included 3,500 underprivileged children and youth from Yangon and Mandalay, including many orphans and children formerly living on the streets. “Many of these children face a whole range of pressures and demands that affords them little time for amusement or relaxation,” noted UNICEF Representative Carroll Long. “That’s why today’s activities also offer these children a chance to just have fun and play.” The CRC states that children have the right to play, assemble and express their views. Today’s events, which were organized by the Child Focused Network – a coalition of 20 international and national child-focused organizations dedicated to the wellbeing of Myanmar’s children – afford children an opportunity to actively exercise these rights. The CRC also emphasizes the crucial role that families play in children’s development, and defends families’ role in children’s lives. UNICEF strives to protect children’s rights to health, education, equality and protection. In Myanmar, UNICEF supports the training of teachers, health providers and local officials in child protection methodology, and is working to enhance the country’s juvenile justice system. UNICEF also works with numerous partners to prevent the exploitation of children, to protect vulnerable children from abuse, and to reintegrate trafficked children and former street children in their home communities. *************** *************** For further information please contact:
Related links
For additional details on the Convention on the Rights of the Child please visit UNICEF’s website: www.unicef.org/crc
|
