Wednesday, June 1, 2011

June 1st is International Children's Day

“Children are the world's most valuable resource and its best hope for the future”
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (American, 35th US President)

It's great to be a kid! At least, it should be, and that's the idea behind International Children's Day. It is a day dedicated to promoting the rights, health and happiness of kids everywhere.

The International Children's Day (ICD) is said to have originated in Turkey in 1920 and later in Geneva, Switzerland in 1925. It was a coincidence that two very important events took place on 1st June 1925. The first was the World Conference for the Well-being of Children in Geneva while at the same time the Chinese Consul-General in San Francisco gathered a number of Chinese orphans to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival. Since both these incidents had the idea of child welfare at their core, 1st of June began to be celebrated as International Children's Day thereafter. However,  it was largely restricted to the communist countries and continues to be restricted, even after the atrophying of communism.

There is often little public awareness of International Children's Day. Most of the nations in the Western world, the Middle East, Africa and the southern hemisphere have their own particular so called "Children's day", which they celebrate during different times of the year. However, International Children's Day has acquired an important place in the agenda of United Nations and its concerned agencies, especially UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund).

This year children welfare is also going to be an important point of discussion in the G8 summit meeting in Heiligendamm, Germany from the 6th to 8th June (owing to it's proximity to 1st June). The major concerns will be poverty in the African nations and the prevention on HIV among children in the same nations.

Why not celebrate the day by doing something special with a child in your life--and let your own inner child have some fun as well!

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