UNIVERSAL CHILDREN'S DAY

UNIVERSAL CHILDREN'S DAY
GLOBALLY OBSERVED YESTERDAY

http://www.unric.org  - Universal Children Day was observed across the globe on Sunday. All around the world several public and private organisations arranged seminars, rallies,  conferences, walks and interactive programmes to show the plight of those children who are deprived of basic amenities of life.  Officially established on 20 November 1989, Universal Children’s Day marks the day on which the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989.  The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is an international treaty that addresses the rights of children and youth under the age of 18.  The Convention’ s 54 articles recognizes the basic human rights of children and gives them additional rights to protect them from harm.  Universal Children’s Day was established by the United Nations General Assembly as a day of celebration of the state of welfare of children.

Many countries respected this recommendation and this special day has since been annually observed on November 20.  The aim of Universal Children’s Day is to put public initiatives and campaigns in place to raise awareness of children’s rights worldwide, awareness of their situation in life, problems, wishes, needs and longings as well as to enable exchanges and meetings between them. Those in positions of political responsibility should, in particular, be reminded that it is very much up to them to act in the interests of children. It is up to them to act in family and social politics with laws that explicitly protect children from violence, exploitation and abuse of all kinds, in educational politics, in measures for ensuring the safety of children in wad and conflict situation, etc.

Universal Children's Day promotes the welfare of children, and yesterday it was commemorated the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, proclaimed by the United Nations in 1959 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989 which established universal standards to protect them.  Despite progress in recent decades, millions of poor, marginalized, displaced, sick without assistance, exploited children or victims of armed conflicts show that not everything is done yet.  However, to meet their material needs is not enough, we should meet their spiritual needs, too.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

Not only we, even the beast, the cat, the dog, other beasts they also get their children. Other birds also, beasts, birds, animals - they love their children. So, to love a child is not a great deed that we have done in this human body. Everybody kissing his boy, everybody loving his boy. We love. But we are having human forms not for kissing. We kiss the boy - if he's grown up we don't kiss. We don't love so much and he also wants to be independent. He wants to see income. He will go away everywhere. No more mother and father. Then he will have marriage with some lady, young lady. That is not done in India. Indian culture is different. … The link is always there with boys and daughters and granddaughters and grandsons. Same affection they carry. You don't find in western countries that. The boys and girls attain education, they don’t go away from their parents, they don't go away. Indians like to be under their parents.

Śrīla Bhakti Vaibhava Purī Mahārāj:
Lecture given in Pula, Croatia on 18.6.2004
Śrī Krishna Chaitanya Mission
http://www.purimaharaj.com/