By children, for children at EU Children’s Rights Summit May 24

In time for the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 2018 European Year of Cultural Heritage, the EU Delegation to the Philippines will hold a Children’s Rights Summit on Thursday, May 24, at the Museo Pambata, Roxas Boulevard, Manila.

More than 100 children from private and public schools, as well as disadvantaged children cared for by NGOs, will participate in the summit. As a first by the EU Delegation to the Philippine, the summit will carry the theme “Una sa Lahat: Bata” (More than Anything: Children First), and will be an avenue for children to be educated on their rights with sessions led by their fellow children and youth.

Jerico Cabico, a 16-year-old youth advocate from SOS Children’s Village, and Marcuz Castro and Jermy Romero, both 17, of Save the Children will speak on children’s rights and their insights and experiences in their own communities.

“We, at the European Union, have always been dedicated to our duty to help uphold the rights of children everywhere,” says European Union Ambassador Franz Jessen.

Guided by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), the EU recognizes that children, including those less than 18 years of age, are important members of society, who must be provided a healthy physical and emotional environment as they grow up. The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights guarantees the protection of the rights of the child by the EU institutions and by EU countries under domestic law and EU legislation.

“What we hope to accomplish with the children’s summit is that every child knows and understands what protections he or she is entitled to as a young member of society,” said Ambassador Jessen.

Through songs, dances, games, and group activities and theatre, kids attending the summit will learn about the four basic clusters of their rights as a child—survival, protection, participation, and development—highlighted in the interactive sessions facilitated by the youth advocates from SOS Children’s Village and Save the Children.

Participants will also receive a copy of the recently-published book “Karapat-Dapat”—of a non-profit organization CANVAS and children’s book illustrator’s group Ang INK. Lifting selected articles from the UN Convention Rights of the Child (UNCRC), the book helps children learn about their rights in a child-friendly language matched with colorful illustrations by the country’s best. Save the Children will also distribute copies of books on rights and peace. 

“Una sa Lahat: Bata” is organised  by the EU Delegation to the Philippines in partnership with the Museo Pambata, non-government organisations including Save the Children and SOS Children's Village, the Embassies of Austria, Czech Republic, and Sweden, non-profit organization Center for Art, New Ventures & Sustainable Development (CANVAS) and Filipino children’s book illustrators' group Ang Ilustrador ng Kabataan (Ang INK).

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Karapat Dapat is available via Looking for Juan, where every purchase will be matched by 2 book donations in support for CANVAS' One Million Books for One Million Filipino Children Campaign.