World Children’s Day 2024

Every November, UNICEF World Children’s Day is celebrated around the world with events that are designed for children, by children.

This year is a special milestone for Jersey, as it marks ten years since we adopted the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), committing to protect and promote the rights of all children on the Island.

We thought that this would be a good reason to pull out the stops and make World Children’s Day 2024 one to remember.

Together with our team of super-talented young advisers, we designed a day of discussion, reflection and creativity that saw Government Ministers, senior officials from services and charities, and a special guest (Professor Philip Jaffé of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva), all gather together in the same room.

Some of our young people gave powerful presentations to the group about their own thoughts and life struggles, covering topics as diverse as disability, housing, play and education. Others expressed themselves through the mediums of art, film (big shout out to La Passerelle Film School's The Journey - not a dry eye in the house) and social media (have a look at our TikTok).

Lastly, our 'media takeover' taskforce saw young people from our advisory group taking charge of the BBC's mics and cameras for the day and producing an amazing package for TV and radio, reporting with a level of insight and professionalism that earned nods of respect from the seasoned journalists in the room.

We also ran a 'world café' event on the day, which saw the Island's main decision-makers sat around tables with young people, armed with Sharpies and big pads of paper, tackling the major questions on policy and social issues that children raised with us in our recent strategic plan consultation. 

    

     

 

And from our colleagues at BBC Channel Islands News...

 

 

THE #MY10WORDS PROJECT

 

 

During the weeks leading up to World Children’s Day, we asked young people all across the Island to help us celebrate 10 years of the UNCRC in Jersey in just 10 words. 

Here's a small selection of the amazing responses that came back…