Credit: MEN

On the occasion of World Children's Day, celebrated each year on 20 November, Luxembourg's Ministry of Education, Children and Youth has created a portal listing actions and events planned in Luxembourg.

To raise awareness, strengthen and promote access to rights for children, a version of the national action plan 2022-2026 "Zesumme fir d'Rechter vum Kand", adapted to the youngest, is distributed to the classes of cycle 3 of basic education.

54 rights of the child in the United Nations Convention

World Children's Day recalls the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child on 20 November 1959 and, 30 years later, of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The Convention, ratified by almost all the countries of the world, defines 54 children's rights, including the right to life, health, education and the right to play, as well as the right to a family, to be protected from violence and discrimination, to make one's voice heard, etc.

The mission of the Ministry of Education, Children and Youth

The Ministry of Education, Children and Youth coordinates the implementation of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child between the various ministries, institutions and bodies responsible for children's rights. A national action plan was launched in May 2022.

It also participates in inter-ministerial consultations as well as in the work of international bodies which monitor the international conventions ratified by Luxembourg on the rights of the child and where good practices are exchanged, which can be transposed at the national level.

In partnership with private organisations, it develops guides, reference documents, actions and awareness campaigns.

The national action plan: to be discussed with children and young people

On the occasion of World Children's Day, Ministry of Education, Children and Youth, Claude Meisch, said: “Children have rights. We adults must inform them about this and encourage them to express their opinion and insist on their rights. Therefore, the government has created a strategy for children's rights with clear measures and actions, against which we as a society should measure ourselves regularly".

In an ongoing effort to raise awareness and strengthen the understanding and implementation of rights among children and young people, the National Action Plan has been reissued in French and German, in versions suitable for children and young people. They can thus become better acquainted with their rights, discover the actions planned in the eight priority areas and understand how their rights are realised in everyday life.

World Children's Day offers an excellent opportunity to deal with the subject in the classroom and to establish a dialogue with the children.

A catalog for World Children's Day

The ministry has cataloged the actions and events organised across the country on the occasion of World Children's Day 2022 on the portal http://droitdelenfant.men.lu and http://rechtervumkand.men.lu specially dedicated to these initiatives.

Further information on the promotion of children's rights is available online via https://men.public.lu/en/themes-transversaux/droits-enfant.html.