Children, defenders of human rights

September 28th is the Day of General Discussion, when the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child puts on his agenda a specific topic or article of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). In the context of the 20th anniversary of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and 70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Child Rights Connect initiative, the Day of General Discussion #DGD2018 uses this opportunity for international mobilization to respect for children’s rights to act as human rights defenders. On this day, a group of children from 19 countries, including the Republic of Moldova, will attend the UN Committee meeting, and present a report containing their recommendations on the protection and empowerment of children acting as human rights defenders.

The purpose of #DGD2018 is to raise awareness about the role, experience and opinion of children acting as human rights defenders, about the legal (international and national) gaps in the protection and empowerment of these children, and about the governments’ obligations and adult responsibilities related to the protection and empowering children.

In Moldova, #DGD2018 is promoted by the APSCF under the slogan Children – defenders of human rights, with activities including two workshops organised for 25 children nominated by the APSCf’s member organizations, during wich the children have made recommendations for respecting child rights, recommendations included in the report on the protection and empowerment of children who act as human rights defenders in our country (follow this link to read the report in Romanian language).

#DGD2018 activities continue on 24-30 September with an online public awareness campaign promoted on APSCF and its partners social media channels. The messages of the campaign are the result of a participatory process including children and representatives of APSCF’s member organizations and promote the protection and empowerment of children acting as human rights defenders: ▪ Human rights do not take account of age, ▪ Children have rights, you inform them, ▪ Children are the present, listen to their opinions now, ▪ Be a super-defender of the rights of the child.