Our children are our future, but yet they are the most vulnerable still...

world children's day. a moment for us all to come together for our future

November 20th marks the International World Children’s Day, led by UNICEF and celebrated as its annual day of action for children, by children. The day was first marked in 1954 as Universal Children's Day.

As marked by the UN, "November 20th is an important date as it is the date in 1959 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. It is also the date in 1989 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child."

And over the past 30 years, since 1990, World Children's Day also marks the anniversary of the date that the UN General Assembly adopted both the Declaration and the Convention on children's rights.

This year, much like all the other crises our world is experiencing, COVID-19 has exasperated the child's rights crisis the world over, across education, child labour, and children's health. The costs of the pandemic for children are immediate and, if unaddressed, may last a lifetime.

It's time for us all to come together to reimagine what future generations we want to bring into the world; a world that will be theirs to shape in a very near future. Are you ready?

Welcome back to FairPlanet's weekly roundup. Read. Debate: Engage.

The good

Masked not muted #voicesofyouth

"Outside our window, the world is suffering. Overcrowded hospitals awash with pain. Difference met with disdain. We hear the cried of mother Earth. We are her children you can't silence. She will hear her poem for her forests, our song for her oceans. Together, our call with be a thunderstorm. We are never too young, nor too small. Racism, discrimination, inequality — let's end them all. Masked but not muted, me and you."

This year's powerful call to action for International Children's Day is Masked Not Muted; a clear message that while we are going through some of the toughest times that children of this generation have lived through yet, masks (this pandemic, these harsh times), will never stop the children of this generation from fighting for a better planet.

Find out more about this year's International Children's Day HERE.

The bad

children are being separated from their parents at the border

It might be hard to believe, but it's time we all faced the insidious realities of our times. In 2017, the US government under Trump launched a pilot programme that saw the separation of over 1,000 migrant families crossing the border from Mexico into the US. That means children were forcefully separated from their parents and taken away to migrants camps and prisons alone.

The programme was kept secret from the world and the US public until 2019, and was a precursor to the notorious 2018 ‘zero-tolerance policy’ imposed by the White House; it had been used as a method of deterring migrants from coming to the US by separating parents from their children and deporting the parents without allowing them to apply for asylum (in violation of both US and international asylum laws).

Almost three years after the programme was launched, the deported parents of as many as 545 migrant children have yet to be located in Central America. And while the government was ordered by a federal judge to assume responsibility for reuniting families separated under the 2018 policy, it is NGO’s and activists who have been spearheading and managing the search for parents deported under the 2017 pilot programme.

Find out how you can support Justice In Motion NGO in their fight to reunite children with their parents. Click below!

Reunite deported migrants with their children

by Yair Oded

Justice in Motion is an NGO working to guarantee justice to migrants across borders and reunite families separated by U.S. immigration authorities.

Support

Helping Children in Need

Like UNICEF, many charities and NGOs – in some cases also companies – have made it their mission to save children’s lives, to defend their rights, and to help them fulfil their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

Courtesy Kids' Family Hemmersbach – The Social Purpose IT Company

Since 2017 we have been working with the Social Purpose IT Company Hemmersbach to support their direct action activities.

Today, on World's Children'S Day, we'd like to introduce Hemmersbach Kids’ Family, which helps children in need around the world.

Currently focusing on Poland and India, their mission is based on three pillars which aim to provide:

– Better Living Conditions

– Psychological and Medical Care

– Access to Education

Amongst many other projects, their latest achievement is The Kids’ Family House – a safe place for children who have been living in the streets of Bangalore, India. The house is a first step toward building a whole village for homeless children.

Learn more about Hemmersbach Kids' Family

On FairPlanet

	Public outrage makes Russian lawmakers call off controversial bill by Igor Serebryany Russian lawmakers had to withdraw a bill about the establishment of juvenile courts just a few hours before it was to be discussed at the parliament. Read

	US can’t locate parents of separated migrant kids by Yair Oded The US government has lost track of deported parents of 545 migrant children who were separated from them at the border. Read

	Children in the hallways by Katarina Panić It seems that COVID 19 has highlighted another minority in Croatia: Children who choose not to attend religious education classes in schools. Read

	Afghans’ endless dilemma of carrying the smallest, heaviest coffins by Shadi Khan Saif Images of blood-littered dead bodies of innocent Afghan children shook the war-weary nation again as a troubling spate of violence rips through the country. Read

	Hospitalised children in the time of pandemic: Parents 24/7 by Katarina Panić Due to worsened COVID-19 situation, hospitals in Croatia decided to abolish the visits altogether, as well as fathers' presence at the birth. Read

Country focus

Croatia

The Republic of Croatia, which declared its independence from the Yugoslavia in 1991 was quickly followed by four years of war and the best part of a decade of authoritarian nationalism under President Franjo Tudjman.

The country of 4.4 million citizens, had made progress over the years since independence and in early 2003 it began removing the legacy of those years and applied for EU membership, becoming the second former Yugoslav republic after Slovenia to do so.

Despite a recent war of independence, Croatia is committed to recognize and respect fundamental human rights, particularly through the adoption of legislation. However, thus far, compliance with regard to specific children’s rights in Croatia has fallen far short of its stated goals. Indeed, many violations are rampant in several spheres: such as child abuse, child labour, and child marriage.

All stories about Croatia

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