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Why JUNE 01?
International Children's Day, it is widely celebrated on June 1. Children's Day had its origin in the World Conference for the Wellbeing of Children in Geneva in 1925. The June 1 date has a Chinese-USA origin - and nothing to do with Communism.
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The International Children's Day (ICD) is celebrated in numerous countries, usually (but not always) on June 1 each year.
The ICD had its origin in Turkey in 1920 (April 23, 1920) and later in the World Conference for the Well-being of Children in Geneva, Switzerland in 1925. It is not clear as to why June 1 was chosen as the ICD: one theory has it that the Chinese consul-general in San Francisco (USA) gathered a number of Chinese orphans to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival in 1925, which happened to be on June 1 that year, and also coincided with the conference in Geneva.
June 1 has since been observed as the ICD by numerous countries, especially by Communist countries; in the Western world the ICD is usually celebrated on other days of the year (if at all), and there is often little public awareness about these celebrations. (See the section on Germany below for further discussions.) Consequently there is sometimes a misperception that June 1 as the ICD was a Communist invention. Nonetheless, in recent years even some groups within the United States started observing the ICD on June 1.
Poverty and Children
Poverty is a major cause of children becoming separated form the safety and protection of their families. We believe that the numbers of 'invisible' children left alone in a frightening adult world could be hugely reduced. Separated children are often statistically 'invisible' because they are absent from data collected from households, schools, clinics and workplaces. Over 50 million babies a year are never officially registered at birth.
On this day
On International Children's Day spare a thought for the millions of invisible children worldwide who have been separated from their families by poverty and are living on the streets, in institutions or in forced labour. Poverty is a major cause of child separation and lifting a family out of poverty can make the difference between a child growing up in a loving family environment or growing up frightened and alone
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