Superpower kids ready to slay dragons
World’s children live in fear of violence, bullying and poor education
IF YOU had a superpower to improve the lives of children, what would it be? To mark World Children’s Day on November 20, the UN Children’s Fund (Unicef) asked children around the world the following question: “If you had a superpower to improve the lives of children, what would that be?”
Encouragingly, almost all of them chose a superpower that would help children to overcome inequalities.
A child in Japan maintained that she would “buy them (children) books, pay fees and give them good housing,” while one from Kenya said their superpower would defend children from any kind of abuse and always watch over them and encourage them to move ahead.
“Flying. So I could bring food to the poor children,” was a comment from Mexico, and in The Netherlands a young child said his superpower would “turn dirty water into clean water and help stop diseases affecting children.”
In South Africa, while great strides have been made in improving the health and well-being of children in the country, this World Children’s Day Unicef is asking everyone to raise a hand for the work that still needs to be done.
A short World Children’s Day survey recently conducted by Unicef in South Africa and seven other countries with children between the ages of 9 and 16, found that children have many concerns. The three top factors that children worry about most are violence against them, being bullied, and poor education.
Other interesting results of the survey included that the overwhelming majority of children are perturbed by threats to the environ- ment. Many of the children also felt their opinions are never considered.
Almost all the children believed if world leaders listened to them the world would be a better place.
They also pointed out that while smartphones are by far now the most popular mode of communication, they still view traditional media such as TV, radio, and print magazines as relevant and widely consumed.
Since the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child on November 20, 1989, the rights of millions of children have been protected globally. World Children’s Day aims to promote international together ness, awareness among children worldwide of their rights and responsibilities, and collective efforts to improve the welfare and development of children everywhere.
Annually, the day offers a time of reflection for countries to examine how children are treated and take stock of how rights are applied to children.
We know that despite tremendous progress over the past decades, there remain challenges. Recent data has shown that globally 385 million children live in extreme poverty and that 264 million children and youth are out of school.
We are also aware that 5.6 million children under the age of five died in 2016 from preventable diseases.
This year, Unicef is working with children and with partners around the world in solidarity with the world’s most disadvantaged and vulnerable children.
Mothers and fathers, teachers, nurses and doctors, government leaders and civil society activists, religious and community elders, corporate and media professionals as well as children themselves can play an important part in making World Children’s Day relevant for their societies, communities and nations.
World Children’s Day offers each of us an inspirational entry-point to advocate, promote and celebrate children’s rights, translating them into dialogues and actions that will build a better world.
If we get this right, every day will be World Children’s Day.
To be a part of this global movement in protecting children and promoting their rights visit WorldChildrensDay.org
#WorldChildrensDay Bisin is Chief of Communications Unicef South Africa