Universal Children's Day is not simply a day to celebrate children for who they are, but to bring awareness to children around the globe that have succumbed to violence in forms of abuse, exploitation and discrimination. Children are used as labourers in some countries, immersed in armed conflict, living on the streets, suffering by differences be it religion, minority issues, or disabilities.[6] Children feeling the effects of war can be displaced because of the armed conflict and/or suffer physical and psychological trauma.[7] The following violations are described in the term "children and armed conflict": recruitment and child soldiers, killing/maiming of children, abduction of children, attacks on schools/hospitals and not allowing humanitarian access to children.[7] Currently there are about 153 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 who are forced into child labour.[8] The International Labour Organization in 1999 adopted the Prohibition and Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour including slavery, child prostitution and child pornography.[8]
A summary of the rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child can be found here[9].