Human Rights Day.
Children make up nearly half of the people living in extreme poverty. That staggering reality is almost incomprehensible.
“There is no trust more sacred than the one the world holds with children. There is no duty more important than ensuring that their rights are respected, that their welfare is protected, that their lives are free from fear and want and that they can grow up in peace”, said Kofi Annan, the 7th UN Secretary General and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.
In our world today, the four freedoms that constitute the core elements of human rights, of children’s rights, are under constant barrage. That is, freedom from want, freedom from fear, freedom of speech and freedom of worship.
In particular, the freedom from want. Poverty affects over 1 billion children worldwide, who live without the basic needs, adversely impacting their dignity, well-being and future hope.
It is without question, therefore, that if we are to attain our universal rights and our freedoms as the global family of humanity, we must confront and end child poverty.
The ongoing processes of attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), negotiating a binding climate deal in the Paris COP21, and even the anticipated decisions at the forthcoming Istanbul World Humanitarian Summit, all provide structural frameworks by which we can assure the rights and dignity of all children.
Further, religious leaders, faith communities and Faith Inspired Organisations continue to disengage the human or spiritual causes of poverty; including greed, fear, hatred and ignorance; through teaching, reflection and practice.
As Arigatou International, we work to ensure that all children are treated with dignity, all children’s rights are respected, and that all children have the opportunity to freely pursue their full human potential. By mobilising faith-inspired resources to address both these human-spiritual and structural root causes of child poverty.
Today, on Human Rights Day, we call on all people to help build a better world for children by ending child poverty and protecting their inalienable and inherent rights. And we ask, will you join us?
Contact us to take action.