World Vision Child Participation and Rights CoP Statement on the Universal Children’s Day

Friday, November 20, 2015

On the occasion of the Universal Children’s Day 2015, World Vision is pleased to commemorate this day devoted to strengthening the rights of children and young people. The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 20 November 1989 and for the first time in history, grants civil, political, social, economic and cultural rights for children and young people. The rights guaranteed by the Convention cover a broad variety from the right to be protected from violence, to the right to education, to the right to be heard, to the right of disabled children to special care, amongst many others.

The CRC has been officially endorsed by the World Vision Board and along with the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, forms the cornerstone of our commitment to human rights.

As we observe the Universal Children’s Day, we wish to celebrate the achievements made by the State Parties in realising children’s rights and its long-term commitment to a progressive systematic implementation of the CRC. This day is also an important time to reflect on the challenges and gaps in the struggle to promote equal rights for children, especially the right to protection and participation.

World Vision recognises, as outlined in the CRC, that the right to participate and express a view is an intrinsic right afforded to all children and young people, regardless of age. World Vision calls to ensure that the children’s views are considered in decision-making processes at the family, community and national levels. World Vision is committed to make their voices heard on matter relevant to them and to create adequate mechanisms to ensure that their viewpoints are taken into account.

As drawn in Article 19, World Vision calls to end violence against children is an urgent and universal problem affecting millions of children and young people worldwide. As violence occurs in multiple settings such as home, school and community, and across rich and poor countries and across income level within these countries, we call for an increase investment in the development of a comprehensive framework to end, prevent and respond to violence, abuse and exploitation against children.

As this celebration is universal, World Vision encourages the use of multiple models of participation and protection to build indigenous capabilities to realise children’s rights and to ensure respect for cultural diversity and different concepts of childhood.

Our hope is that this Universal Children’s Day will be an opportunity to create more political debate and awareness about putting children’s rights at the centre of the public agenda, especially in light of the new Sustainable Development Goals agenda.

For further information, please contact

Patricio Cuevas-Parra, Senior Policy Adviser, Child Participation, at Patricio_Cuevas-Parra@wvi.org

Tiffany Tao Joiner, Child Participation & Child Well-Being and Rights CoP Specialist,  at Tiffany_Tao_Joiner@wvi.org