Last Friday was World Children’s Day. Established in 1954, the Universal Children’s Day is celebrated on November 20th each year to promote international togetherness, awareness among children worldwide, and improving children’s welfare. I went to review the latest Convention on the Rights of the Child and got depressed. I promised I wouldn’t do content on adoption during NAAM and I don’t want to break my commitment… So I’ll just say it was depressing to see all the ways adoption does not comply with that bill of rights.

And it’s depressing in how many ways we are failing children worldwide.
I would 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 to write an uplifting post today, I really would. But I struggle to do so when globally
🔹 258 million children are out of school (1 every 6 children)
🔹 45% of all child deaths are due to malnutrition
🔹 14 million children suffer from acute malnutrition
🔹 31 million children are displaced by poverty or conflict
🔹 1 in 10 children is forced to work
all because of our ɢʀᴇᴇᴅ.

In the past decades most of these figures have improved greatly. The world is better but it’s not yet fine. Corona and climate change are reversing this good trend. And a small portion of people holds most of the responsibility of all these disgraces (you and I included). Historically but also currently.

Let’s pause for a moment. You and I, we both believe that children should be loved, protected, empowered. We also feel horrified by the figures above, because we’re not monsters. We also feel powerless and want to run as far as we can from them. They feel too big, daunting, complex. And we are only one person, small, what difference can we even make? An African proverb I love says “𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘰.”

So today sit with those figures and with your role in it. Reflect on what businesses you support, what everyday habits you can change, what impact you choose to have, and what world you are building for your and all children. How will you honor children from today onwards?

Personally, I want to look into my buying habits. I hardly buy clothes but I want to better stick to my values and declare war on fast fashion. I try to buy second-hand whenever I can, but occasionally I resort to big brands when I need something quick (and cheap, let’s face it). My commitment is to avoid fast fashion and unsustainable brands through better planning and circular economy.

Featured Photo by Larm Rmah on Unsplash.