World Children’s Day

This week Children’s Museum of Atlanta is celebrating World Children’s Day through a video series highlighting stories from around the world and a special reading of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

World Children’s Day celebrates almost a century of international commitment to the wellbeing of children everywhere. Celebrated annually on November 20th, World Children’s Day commemorates the 1959 adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child by the United Nations General Assembly. This document was the latest iteration of international documents affirming the universal human rights of every child. The first text of this nature, the World Child Welfare Charter, was endorsed by the UN’s predecessor, the League of Nations, in 1924. This Charter was also the very first human rights document approved by an inter-governmental institution. The 1959 Declaration was followed in 1989 by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted and opened for signature, ratification, and accession by the UN General Assembly on November 20th, 1989.

World Children’s Day celebrates almost a century of international commitment to the wellbeing of children everywhere. 

As the UN says we celebrate this special day every year, “to promote international togetherness, awareness among children worldwide, and improving children’s welfare.” UNICEF calls World Children’s Day “a day to reimagine a better future for every child.” In the United States, World Children’s Day coincides with the Thanksgiving season, providing us with the special opportunity to give thanks for the children in our lives and recommit to their mental and physical health, education, and access to opportunity. 

This year CMA has partnered with Maryanne Hong, Constanza Sweeney of Intercultural Fest and the Goethe-Zentrum Atlanta German Cultural Center to share stories in Korean, Spanish, and German with our community. We’re also thrilled to collaborate once again with our friends at the Ismaili Council for the Southeastern USA to present a reading by children and for children of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We encourage caregivers and educators to watch this video together and have an age-appropriate conversation with their children about human rights and the specific rights of children. 

Check out our World Children’s Day playlist: