Message from the Commissioner for the Protection of Children's Rights Ms. Despos Michaelidou on International Children's Rights Day
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As I was thinking about this year's message to children for World Children's Dayand reflecting on the challenges I wondered, to what extent: if the message was written by the children themselves, would it have the same reflections and concerns? Would it have the same value and weight? At least my answer is affirmative and should not surprise us.
Children are in a better position than adults to talk about what they are experiencing. They constantly prove that they can, as citizens of today, be protagonists in the issues that concern them as equal and active members of society, claiming their rights. These very rights guaranteed by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child which was adopted today, on November 20, 1989, marking the entry into a new era, which leaves behind perceptions that wanted the child to be passive recipient of the care of adults, while at the same time creating the obligation for States to guarantee that each child enjoys all his rights.
However, despite the progress achieved, children's unhindered access to their rights remains an open challenge. Wars, the migration crisis, the energy crisis, the pandemic, natural disasters, including the climate crisis, push, every day, more children into poverty, impoverishment, social exclusion, migration.
The My office, listening to the demand of children for a shift to a new, environmentally friendly way of life, places as a top priority the need to make decisions that will secure their right to a healthy environment, with a special emphasis on access to climate justice as a means claiming their rights. We support child environmental activists and urge all authorities to ensure their right to participate in peaceful protests. Children are rightfully angry at adults and how we managed to get to the brink of disaster.
