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The treaty, that sets out children's rights and consists of 54 articles, is one of the most signed and ratified treaties in the world.
The 54 articles describe what children are entitled to and how they must protected. Before the treaty in 1989, there was no such thing Paul Heber from Unicef Luxembourg explained. He was a guest on The Sam Steen Show on RTL Today Radio and explained that even though children are humans too, their specific needs are often forgotten.
As of 15 November 2022, 196 countries are party to it, including every member of the United Nations except the United States. The US has signed the treaty, but is the only country that has yet to ratify it.
Every year on 20 November, Unicef Luxembourg therefore takes the opportunity to celebrate the anniversary of the treaty. "The convention made a lot of sense at the time and it still does with so many places in the world with emergencies and wars."
While it might seem like a "boring topic," the message is important, so Unicef Luxembourg tries to make the celebration a little bit more fun. Their GoBlue campaign sees buildings, public spaces and monuments illuminated in blue, something that unfortunately can't happen this year due to the energy crisis.
"This year we moved everything into the digital world and there is still time to participate", Paul clarified. In addition to coats for webpages and pop up banners that show you care and support children's rights, you can participate by wearing blue or use the tool kits that Unicef has made available.
Next to the annual children's rights day, 20 November will be the day the Football World Cup starts. "For obvious reasons Unicef is not affiliated with the World Cup, but in our world sports play an important role. It can bring kids into school and it an important contact point of reaching out to children in developing countries."
Football remains the most popular sport, and while not supporting the World Cup, the main show of support will be in creating the world's biggest Mexican wave. People, teams and organisations are urged to film themselves, upload their videos and tag Unicef Luxembourg, in order to be included in a final video creating this big Mexican wave.
RTL Today will take part in the Mexican wave, so be on the lookout on our socials!
Of course there will still be loads of physical events, Paul disclosed, some even happening at RTL where children will record some jingles to be played throughout the day. Another big event will be the mock trial that allows children to get in touch with the legal system and see what the system can do for them.
"We are trying to get young people involved as much as possible, give them their own voice to talk about their own problems. We might think we know as adults, but they know much better what they are struggling with."
You can listen to the full interview on RTL Play or via the player below.
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