The Government of South Africa declared the first Saturday of November as the National Children’s Day.
The aim of the National Children’s Day celebration is to highlight progress being made towards the realisation and promotion of rights of children.
November the month in which the Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted by the United Nations in 1989. The Convention was the first international treaty ratified by our newly democratic government in 1994 in recognition of the centrality of children’s rights to our national development.
The Convention requires all countries to advance the social, economic, political and cultural rights of children. The Convention asserts that every child has a right to:
- Survival
- Development
- Protection
- Participation
- Identity
- Health
- Education
- Non-discrimination
- Privacy
- Freedom of Expression
These rights are also aimed at creating a safe and nurturing environment for all children, allowing them to grow and thrive.
