Children, the future is yours! Defend it! Statement for International Children’s Day
100 years ago, On June 1, 1925 the World Conference on Children’s Welfare issued the first proclamation on the rights of the child. 34 years later, in 1989, the United Nations (UN) declared November 20 International Children’s Day and established the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). For communities and organizations around the world, this day serves as a chance to highlight the local impacts of state violence, war, and displacement on children. We have all seen dramatic photos and posts of the impact the Zionist genocide in Gaza has had on children due to forced starvation, targeted bombings, and overall dehumanization; we have been shocked and appalled at the treatment of migrant children under the fascist Trump administration – where recent reports revealed children as young as six years old are representing themselves in immigration court. In every corner of the globe – from Palestine, to the Philippines, to India, Kenya, the Congo, Puerto Rico, Haiti, the US and beyond – we know that children are suffering under the current system and are a critical community to protect and engage.
Under the UNCRC, countries have an obligation to ensure that children are provided with adequate information about their rights and to provide basic assistance services for their development. The UN agency identifies four main pillars that underpin children’s rights: survival, development, protection, and participation. While survival, development, and protection are often emphasized, the pillar of participation is just as crucial, although frequently overlooked. Children not only have the right to be cared for and kept safe, but also the right to join, attend, and contribute to discussions, advocacy and political actions about their own rights and welfare.
International Children’s Day also serves to remind us that children’s rights and welfare are not simply guaranteed by declarations or international agreements — and can only be genuinely secured through collective organizing, mobilizing, and fighting together to transform the fundamental aspects of society which exploit and terrorize billions of people around the globe. While national and international advocacy for children primarily focuses on ensuring children are kept safe from harm and are not taken advantage of or exploited, IWA members assert that children's right to participate is one that we have a responsibility to uphold and actively foster. This includes teaching children about their rights, encouraging them to express their opinions, and ensuring that children have opportunities to contribute to and carry out their own campaigns and create organizations. It also includes being bold and honest with children and teaching them from an early age about the realities of the world they live in, and empowering them to know they have a role in creating meaningful change.
Around the world children are experiencing the impacts of multiple crises. They suffer under poverty created by greedy systems which sell natural resources, food, and land rights to the highest bidder (as is the case in countries like Indonesia and the Philippines where land is reclaimed for cash crop production). Children are subjected to child labor both officially due to deregulation, and informally due to the informalization of labor (these practices are increasingly common throughout the world, with an alarming lack of transparency from international corporations on what safeguards are in place). Children suffer from widespread underdevelopment due to foreign debt and aid dependency, often resulting in poor quality of health and sanitation. Children also suffer from a lack of quality healthcare and education - resulting in increased rates of preventable diseases and also high rates of teenage pregnancy. Most disturbingly, children face rampant violence due to abuse, military occupation, and the growing prevalence of online sexual abuse.
On November 8, IWA hosted a small group discussion online between members about the importance of children's organizing. IWA member Salinlahi, a national alliance based in the Philippines that responds to the needs of Filipino children, helped lead the meeting and presented on the status and challenges of children's organizing in the Philippines. Members shared challenges in moving beyond simply advocating for children and meaningfully engaging them in political education and campaigns. But members also shared that children are a keystone in numerous campaigns - whether it be campaigns fighting for the reunification of families forcibly separated by state forces, ensuring children are given opportunities to participate in mobilizations and political actions, and ensuring that children know about their history and importance of peoples' movements. As we recognize International Children's Day, IWA is committed to continuing to create spaces for organizations to share lessons and resources, and to ensure children are a key aspect of our campaigns and work moving forward.
As a global alliance of women's organizations, IWA recognizes the important link between women and children. Not only because women are mothers who often bear the responsibility of caring for children, but because both women and children are made more vulnerable under the current global system. Women and children are both used as talking points and political chess pieces by anti-people governments who seek to profit off welfare programs and use sham reforms to advance their own political agendas. Women and children both face increased risk of sexual and physical violence during times of heightened conflict. And women and children both bear the responsibility of organizing, educating, and fighting for a better future together. IWA is committed to advancing campaigns that not only unite women's organizations, but create opportunities to engage children and to prepare them to be organizers of the next generation.
Defend our Future! Protect our Children!
Children, the future is yours’! Defend it!