The Universal Children’s Day celebrated on November 20 2016

The Universal Children’s Day is celebrated worldwide on November 20.

• Aim: to promote awareness in the society for international togetherness, awareness among children worldwide, and improving children’s welfare.
• The theme of the day this year is “Stop Violence against the Children.”
• The event for 2016 Universal Children’s Day will be held on November 21 by ‘Save the Children’.The ‘Save the Children’ Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization that promotes children’s rights, provides relief and helps support children in developing countries.

Special seminars and conferences will be held across the country to create awareness among people to safeguard the rights of children.

Universal Children’s Day

Universal Children’s Day was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1954, to encourage all countries to institute a day to promote mutual exchange and understanding among children and initiate action to benefit and promote the welfare of the world’s children.

• The UN General Assembly also adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child on November 20 in 1959.
• It is also the date when the UN General assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child on November 20, 1989.
• Universal Children’s Day therefore also marks the anniversary of the date that the UN General Assembly adopted i.e. the declaration and the convention on children’s rights.
• Universal Children’s Day is preceded by International Men’s Day on November 19 creating a 48 hour celebration of men and children respectively during which time the positive roles men play in children’s lives are recognized.

Kehkashan Basu of conferred with International Children’s Peace Prize 2016.

Environmentalist Kehkashan Basu has been announced one of the three finalists for the International Children’s Peace Prize 2016.

• A UAE-based teen, 16, was named by international child rights organisation KidsRights on November 17, 2016.
• From a list of 120 international entries, an expert committee chose Kehkashan Basu from the UAE, Muzoon Almellehan, 18, from Syria and Divina Maloum, 12, from Cameroon.
• According to the committee, all three have worked on improving the rights and position of children in unique and tangible ways. Every year, the young prize-winner gains an international platform to share his or her message with hundreds of millions of people worldwide
• The Children’s Peace Prize will be awarded by a Nobel Peace Laureate. This year, Nobel Peace Prize winner of 2006 Muhammad Yunus will present the prize in the Hall of Knights (Ridderzaal) at The Hague on December 2, 2016.
• The International Children’s Peace Prize is awarded annually to a child who has made a significant contribution to advocating children’s rights and improving the situation of vulnerable children such as orphans, child labourers and children with HIV/AIDS.

Kehkashan Basu

• Basu began campaigning to protect the environment at an early age.
• When she was just eight, she organised an awareness-raising campaign for the recycling of waste in her neighbourhood in Dubai.
• In 2012, she founded her own organisation, Green Hope, which runs waste-collection, beach-cleaning and awareness-raising campaigns. Green Hope is now active in ten countries with more than 1,000 young volunteers
• Through a series of campaigns and lectures, she has demonstrated to thousands of school and university students how important it is to care properly for the environment.
• Basu has addressed various international conferences. Basu was nominated by her father.