Today is a good day to feel blue and for once it’s not because of the news cycle, but for a good cause. On this date way back in 1959, the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. It is also the date in 1989 when the UN General assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Now, November 20 marks World Children’s Day and people are going blue to show their support for giving every child a childhood.
To mark the occasion, Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown, the youngest UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, teamed up with a few other UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors including Orlando Bloom, Liam Neeson, YouTube star Lilly Singh, singer-songwriter Dua Lipa, and the Blue Man Group to stand up for children everywhere.
If you want to get involved, too, here are five things you can do right now to help improve the lives of children in the United States and around the world:
Sign UNICEF’s global petition asking leaders to commit to fulfilling the rights of every child now and for future generations.
An average of 47 American children and teens are shot every single day, according to Everytown, and gun violence is now the second leading cause of death for American children. That’s too much. Sign up for message alerts from Everytown for Gun Safety here to start getting involved.
Christmas shop for a good cause with UNICEF’s Inspired Gifts, which donates vital supplies to children in need around the world. It’s not iPads or board games, but immunizations, healthy food, and clean water. Buy one for everyone on your list and see if anyone dares to complain.
Did you know that every year 15 million girls are married off (often without choice) before they turn 18? These girls are routinely denied their rights to health, education, and, perhaps most important of all, opportunity. Girls Not Brides is a global partnership of more than 450 civil society organizations committed to ending child marriage so girls can choose their own destinies. Help the cause by signing the petition asking the United States to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to end child marriage at girlsnotbrides.org/take-action.
There are some 14,000 migrant children in U.S. government custody, and Amnesty International, along with American Immigration Council, American Immigration Lawyers Association, and the Dilley Pro Bono Project, are calling for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to release the hundreds of families in prolonged detention at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas. Sign the petition here.
