Today marks the Children's Day of Africa
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
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Every year on June 16, the International Day of the African Child is celebrated on the initiative of the Organization of African Unity. For the first time the holiday was celebrated in 1991, and since then the main theme of the Day has been to draw the attention of the world community, children's and health organizations, as well as politicians around the world, to the problems of African children and to the conditions of their daily life.
The date of the International Day of the African Child was chosen in connection with the tragic events that took place on June 16, 1976 in South Africa. On that day, thousands of black schoolchildren took to the streets of the settlement on the southwestern outskirts of Soweto - South Western Townships - with demands to improve the quality of school education and upholding the right to learn in their native language.
Hundreds of young Africans were shot by government security forces. Over the next two weeks, more than a hundred people were killed and more than a thousand were injured. Official data reported that from June 16, 1976 to February 28, 1977, during the uprising, as a result of police executions, 575 people were killed and about 6,000 people were arrested.
In 2011, it was decided at the events of the Day to pay special attention to the plight of street children, whose number on the continent is estimated at 30 million. The term "homeless children" is often criticized, but UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) describes these children as follows: "they live in urban (urban) environments; have parents or other relatives with whom communication is weak or absent; are forced to survive, seeking for this different ways; see in life on the street the only possible way of existence, the street for them replaces the family and becomes a place of social activity; they live with a risk to life and are subject to many dangers. "
As is known, street children are the most vulnerable children in the world, they are repeatedly subjected to violence, exploitation, physical and moral humiliation.
Tuition fees are another big problem for many African children. Despite the efforts and assistance of charitable organizations, today there is an insurmountable barrier between law and reality. That is why international organizations, starting with the African Union and UNICEF, annually put forward initiatives, hold discussions to bring the lives of millions of African children closer to the human.