Rome (Italy). November 20, 2025, marks World Children’s Day, established in 1954 to support the fundamental rights of children and adolescents. In 1959, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, and in 1989, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted. This document is crucial because for the first time, children and adolescents are not just individuals to be protected, but are considered persons with their own opinions, dignity, and specific rights.
This date is therefore an opportunity every year to promote awareness of children’s fundamental rights, such as the right to life, development, education, and well-being, and to reiterate the importance of their protection throughout the world.
However, the latest UNICEF data on the situation of children and adolescents worldwide are alarming, due to more than 60 ongoing conflicts and climate change. Over 473 million children—that is, more than 1 in 6 children worldwide—live in conflict-affected areas, a number that has reached one of the highest levels ever recorded. Conflicts significantly compromise access to education, health, and nutrition (118 million children worldwide suffer from malnutrition).
Regarding education, an estimated 85 million children do not attend school. Furthermore, school infrastructure is often non-existent, damaged, or destroyed in conflict zones or those hit by natural disasters.
The challenges we face are multiple and often overlapping, as in the case of conflict, climate change, and poverty. Financial resources are insufficient to meet the ever-increasing needs, while the lack of infrastructure for education, healthcare, and child protection puts at risk not only the present but also the future of the new generations.
To face these challengesl VIDES International has always been at the forefront in defending and promoting the rights of children and young people, with particular attention to the contexts in which these rights are most frequently violated. As evidence of this ongoing commitment, the important project “The Rights of Children” was concluded in 2025 “Keeping Families Together II”,
Promoted by VIDES International and funded by the GHR Foundation, the initiative represented a significant milestone in the field of child protection and the protection of children’s right to grow up within a safe, peaceful, and loving family unit. During the project, sisters and staff members were trained to adequately respond to the emotional and psychological needs of children separated from their families. Wherever possible, their reintegration into a family environment has been encouraged, creating, in close collaboration with their families of origin, the conditions for a welcoming environment capable of supporting the development and well-being of minors. At the same time, VIDES International has adopted its own Child Protection Policy, which establishes the organization’s commitment to ensuring full respect and protection of children and youth in every aspect of its operations.
Next to VIDES International, FVGS ETS, since its founding, has been working in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Europe to ensure the most vulnerable children’s right to education and a balanced diet. Through Distance Support, FVGS reaches thousands of children every year, ensuring they can attend school and build a better future. Furthermore, it is present throughout the region with development projects and micro-projects to support local communities, particularly the needs of the most vulnerable children.
Today, more than ever, VIDES International and the FVGS Foundation are convinced of the importance of working towards the realization of what is written in the Preamble to the International Convention on the Rights of the Child: “The child must be fully prepared to live an individual life in society and brought up in the spirit of the ideals proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations, and in particular in the spirit of peace, dignity, tolerance, freedom, equality, and solidarity.”
