A day to celebrate the African Child

Countries across Africa celebrate the 16th of June as the Day of the African Child, and this year the event aims to raise awareness of the right to participate with the theme: 'Right to Participation: let children be seen and heard'.

This year, Plan took the opportunity to raise awareness, advocate and to help communities to take further action on child participation.

Activities celebrating the day across Plan countries

In Mali – Plan and regional rap network AURA, working to promote African unity and child protection, have organised a concert in Bamako with the theme -'Children have the right to participate'. More than 20,000 visitors are expected to watch the rappers portraying children living in difficult circumstances in their rap opera “Poto Poto”. Rappers will also meet with children and youth to debate issues that affect them as well as hear about young people’s initiatives to improve youth participation and resolve problems they face in their communities. Children from Plan communities are also organising public events to inform adults and peers about their rights and to celebrate the day.

In Togo – King Messan, a popular musician in the country – is meeting with children and youth to discuss their rights. The event will be broadcast on radio stations to ensure broader reach amongst children and adults.

In Benin - children are taking part in rallies to inform their communities about their rights and schools in Plan communities have organised a competition on child participation.

In Cameroon - Plan is supporting the electoral process for the national children’s parliament across its programme areas and local radio stations are also organising broadcasts to report on the electoral proceedings and lessons learnt by the young voters from the process.

In Burkina Faso - the area of Zorgho will see important public events to celebrate the day, organised by the national Child Rights Network, including a football competition, univeral birth registration events and cultural activities organised by Plan communities.

In Niger - several activities are planned, including a live tele-debate on child participation amongst children from the 8 regions of Niger, a photo exhibition, public events to which government Ministers and local Ambassadors have been invited, and a free concert of local artists.

In Uganda - Plan organised a children conference on Friday 13 June which brought together children supported by Plan and other NGOs, as well as children from schools in the central region to discuss ways in which they would like to participate in issues concerning their communities' development. The children ended the conference with a memorandum they are presenting to the Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Welfare on the Day of the African Child. 

In Ethiopia - Plan Ethiopia is holding a Forum Cinema to celebrate the Day of the African Child. This will involve a 20-minute drama by Plan-supported children which will in turn be shown on the Ethiopian National Television at the end of June. There will also be a debate on the performance and child participation where experts and community members will be invited to share their views and debate issues.

In Malawi - the 7th Malawi Children's parliament was organised under the theme 'Right to participation, let children be seen and heard'. The session involved 110 children from all over Malawi, including Plan communities. The children came up with resolutions which will be presented to cabinet ministers and senior members of parliament on the Day of the African Child.

History of the Day of the African Child

In Soweto, South Africa, thousands of black school children took to the streets in 1976, in a march more than half a mile long, to protest about the inferior quality of their education and to demand their right to be taught in their own language. Hundreds of young boys and girls were shot down; and in the two weeks of protest that followed, more than a hundred people were killed and more than a thousand were injured.

In memory of those killed and to recognise the courage of all those who marched, the Day of the African Child has been celebrated on 16 June every year since 1991, when it was first initiated by the Organization of African Unity. The Day also aims to draw attention to the lives of African children today.