SINT MAARTEN (GREAT BAY) - 6th-grade classes of Primary Schools in Sint Maarten are invited to attend a Children’s Rights Presentation facilitated by the Department of Youth and UNICEF the Netherlands. So far, five schools and over 200 students have participated.
“In 1989, governments worldwide promised all children the same rights by agreeing to the United National Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Sint Maarten is one of the 196 countries that have agreed to this. The Convention states what we must do so that all children grow as healthy as possible, can learn at school, are protected, have their views listened to, and are treated fairly. Part of this is educating children on their rights,” explains Soraya Agard-Lake, Head of the Department of Youth.
The presentations are hosted at the Cultural Center in Philipsburg. Students receive a booklet describing all children’s rights and popcorn with a children’s rights sticker as they arrive. Once students are seated, they watch several videos as an introduction, followed by a CRC presentation hosted by Lenworth Wilson, Youth Participation Specialist, who describes the 54 Articles of the CRC and moderates the discussion afterwards.
Lenworth: “Students especially like Article 31, which describes that children have the right to rest, play, and engage in recreational activities. We do explain that exercising their rights does not mean misusing them. For example, children have the right to play, but this does not mean children do not have to go to school or do their homework. Several students posed good questions, leading to an interesting conversation about their rights.”
After the CRC presentation, students and attending teachers watched the short film ‘What If I Told You’. The film was recently produced by the Department of Youth and UNICEF the Netherlands on Sint Maarten and features an all-cast of 6th-grade students. The film touches on the important role duty bearers, such as parents, teachers and government, play in the safe development of a child. “Those who have watched the film express that they resonate with several social issues the actors describe. They also share that they would love to see more films featuring young people,” Lenworth shares.
If 6th-grade classes of Primary Schools are interested in joining one of the Children’s Rights presentations, they can contact the Department of Youth and UNICEF the Netherlands (in Sint Maarten) at unicefnlsxmteam@unicef.nl. On November 20th, the short film ‘What if I told you’ will premiere for the public on the social media pages of the Department of Youth and @unicefsxm.
This activity is part of the Child Resilience and Protection Project (CRPP) executed by UNICEF the Netherlands in collaboration with the Government of Sint Maarten, financed by the Government of the Netherlands, through the Sint Maarten Trust Fund, and administered by the World Bank.
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