The 30th Anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
Casina Pio, IV//Vatican City//November 14-15, 2019
On the 30th Anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Blue Chip Foundation joined the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences and Telefono Azzurro to support a two-day event at the Vatican entitled “Promoting Digital Child Dignity from Concept to Action” which gathered important religious leaders of different communities, together with, academics, politicians and tech industry executives to address the challenges that children face in the digital world. This summit was co-organized by the Child Dignity and Interfaith Alliance for Safer Communities.
The protection of children from all forms of violence is a fundamental right enshrined in both the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and SDG 16.2 which calls for an end to all forms of violence against children.
In his opening address to the summit on November 14th, Pope Francis commended the educational and personal growth opportunities that technology affords young people around the world, but challenged his audience to protect the world’s youth from “unacceptable criminal violence or grave harm to the integrity of their body and spirit.” He called for a “global movement” marked by the “deepest commitment of the human family and international institutions to protecting the dignity of minors and every human person.”
In addition to the Pope’s remarks, the summit’s 80 participants were also addressed by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior of the United Arab Emirates, H.H. Sheikh Saif Bin Zayed al Nahyan; H.M. Queen Silvia of Sweden; the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Professor Dr. Ahmed el-Tayeb; Rabbi David Rosen; Ms. Najat Maalla M’jid, representative of the United Nations Secretary-General on Violence Against Children, His All Holiness Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, and also executives from across the tech industry representing giants like Microsoft.
"The child who has suffered abuse. The child who is at risk. The child who was robbed of its childhood, and instead carries guilt and shame,” said Queen Silvia of Sweden during her opening remarks. It is for this child, ladies and gentlemen, that we are here today.”
