(Vatican Radio) As the world marks Universal Children’s Day - the anniversary of the
UN Convention of the Rights of the Child - UNICEF is urging a much stronger light
be shone on the millions of children in every country and at every level of society
who are victims of violence and abuse that continue to go unnoticed and under-reported. The
UN Convention, adopted in 1989, became the first legally binding international convention
to affirm human rights for all children. It specifies that every child, everywhere,
has the right to survive, grow and be protected from all forms of violence. Among
the many initiatives that have grown up around this observance is an interfaith World
Day of Prayer and Action for Children, celebrated in many countries on November 20th.
The idea, pioneered by a Japanese Buddhist organization in 2008, has been taken up
by many faith communities in different parts of the world in order to raise greater
awareness about the protection of children’s rights. To find out more about this
initiative and about the campaign to end violence against children, Philippa Hitchen
spoke Madeline Eisner, senior communications advisor at UNICEF in New York….
Listen:
“As we know,
so much violence happens in the shadows so UNICEF is joining forces with other partners
to say no to violence … and we have to speak up louder and act on any kind of violence
against children….”