November 20 – Universal Children’s Day

News

Resolution of the UN General Assembly, adopted in 1954, encourages all states to mark the Universal Children’s Day on November 20.
This is an important date in the history of the establishment of children’s rights, which coincided with the publication of a number of fundamental documents aimed at improving the lives and protecting the interests of children. On this day in 1959, the Declaration of the Rights of the Child was adopted, and in 1989, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which defines a set of measures to ensure a decent life for the younger generation and a happy childhood.

The mission of the Universal Children’s Day is to draw public attention to the most acute problems of children, because even today their rights are violated in many parts of the world. In the context of the ongoing armed conflict in the territory of Donbass, the life and health of children are especially vulnerable. Contrary to the Minsk cease-fire agreements, the Armed Forces of Ukraine target residential districts, kindergartens, schools, and hospitals, which is cruel and cynical. As a result of the undeclared war unleashed by the Ukrainian authorities, 81 children lost their lives in the territory of the Donetsk People’s Republic.

In accordance with the international instruments, the protection of children’s rights to life and health, education, social assistance and the right to be brought up in the family should serve as a guide to actions in all countries of the world. In the Donetsk People’s Republic, children’s rights are guaranteed by the Constitution, the Education law, the law On Protecting Children from Information Harmful to their Health and Development and by a number of other regulatory legal acts.

Full and effective protection of the rights of the child is an integral part of the activities of the Human Rights Ombudsman in the Donetsk People’s Republic. Despite the ongoing military-political confrontation, comprehensive efforts are made by the state to ensure that children have a happy childhood and a peaceful, bright and prosperous future in the law-based and socially-oriented Republic.