June 4 is officially observed as the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression, each year by the United Nations (UN). The purpose of this day is to remember, acknowledge and address the violence committed against children worldwide through war, terrorism, abduction, sexual abuse, killing, assault on schools and denial of humanitarian aids. Below, we take a look at the history and significance of the event.
History
On June 6, 1982, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) invaded southern Lebanon and initiated the Lebanon War against the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), Syrians and Muslim forces in the region. Many Palestinian and Lebanese children were killed or injured in the war.
On August 19 of that year, the UN General Assembly held an emergency meeting and criticised the Israeli government for such acts of violence against Palestinians, which it termed “massacre.” The Assembly decided to henceforth observe June 4 as the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression, on an annual basis.
Graça Machel report
In 1996, independent Mozambique’s first Minister of Education and Culture, Graça Machel, presented a report to the United Nations General Assembly, in which she highlighted the extent of damage that armed conflicts have on children. Machel was well known for her humanitarian work, particularly with refugee children for which she had received the Nansen Refugee Award from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The Machel report led to the adoption of the 51/77 resolution by the United Nations General Assembly on February 20, 1997. The report talked about providing safeguards to children from all forms of exploitation, violence and diseases as per the Convention on the Rights of the Child of the UN.
Future
As noted on the United Nations website, a target has been set as per the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that aims to secure a brighter tomorrow for children. The target is to put a stop to violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect in all their forms, against children.
A worldwide campaign called #ACTtoProtect has been launched by the UN’s Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict to protect war-affected children.
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