International Year of the Child

Emblem of the International Year of the Child The United Nations declared 1979 as the International Year of the Child to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child and to encourage its application. The objectives of this year, as outlined in the United Nations General Assembly Resolution of 21 December 1976, were as follows :

(a) To provide a framework for advocacy on behalf of children and for enhancing the awareness of the special needs of children on the part of decision-makers and the public.

(b) To promote recognition of the fact that programmes for children should be an integral part of economic and social development plans with a view to achieving, in both the long-term and the short-term, sustained Lithograph by Graciela Rodo Boulanger activities for the benefit of children at the national/international levels.

All over the world special activities were organised and all kinds of memorabilia were produced. One is this lithograph by Graciela Rodo Boulanger.

On 5 October 1979 at the UN Office in Geneva, the permanent mission of the Popular Republic of Poland communicated a project relative to the rights of the child to the Human Rights Commission work group. This initiative led to the Convention on the Rights of the Child adopted by the General Assembly on 20 November 1989.

Links

President Jimmy Carter established a National Commission on the International Year of the Child.

Article on the first Disney stamps issued for the International Year of the Child.

All the International Years proclaimed by the General Assembly.

Related subject

Convention on the Rights of the Child

Related person

Beatrix, queen of the Netherlands

Catalogue

New Zealand - stamp International Year of the Child Aitutaki 1 October 1979