Universally, Children’s Day is celebrated on 20 th 

November,
every year. This date was chosen as a day to celebrate
childhood. Prior to 1959 Children’s Day was universally
celebrated in the month of October. This was first celebrated
in the year 1954, as decided by the UN GeneralAssembly.
Basically this day was instituted with the sole aim of
promoting communal exchange and understanding among
children, as well as to bring about beneficiary action to
promote the welfare of children, all over the globe.

The date 20th November, was chosen as it marks the

anniversary of the day in 1959, when the Declaration of the
Rights of the Child was adopted by the United Nations
General Assembly adopted. In 1989 the Convention on the
Rights of the Child was signed on the same date, which has
been sanctioned by 191 states, ever since.

However, while 20th November is universally celebrated as Children’s Day,

in India this day has been preponed to 14 th November, the date the marks
the birth anniversary of independent India’s first Prime Minister –
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
The reason why his birthday has been chosen for the celebration of children is because of
his love and passion for children. Pandit Nehru is also regarded as the country’s special child
to have been the first Prime Minister, after her long struggle for independence.

The day is marked with a lot of activities for children. But the fact remains that only
a section of the country’s children actually have an opportunity to celebrate their existence.
Schools organize events and activities that their students thoroughly enjoy, but there is an
entire populace of young ones that are left ignored on this special day – the downtrodden
street children.

Instead of celebrating it with pomposity in schools and clubs and hotels, why not bring a
difference into the lives of children who are unprivileged. While celebrating being a child, the
fortunate ones should be reminded about their good fortune to have all that they are endowed
with, while there are others who can barely feed or clothe themselves.

Thus, while this day was globally instituted to provide children with basic Rights, maybe one
can make a difference to a child’s life by doing something special. Parties and celebrations
happen all the time, but how about taking the fortunate children to homes that shelter street
children and have them befriend those kids, donating clothes, toys, stationery, books, etc.

Another way of celebrating this day differently would be to have your children, whether as
teacher or parent, organize a party for some underprivileged children. In fact, if this is done in
every neighborhood, imagine how many smiles there will be across the nation.

Childhood is about innocence and playfulness. It is about joy

and freedom. Maybe on this day you can make your own child
sign up to sponsor the education of an unprivileged child,
either through an NGO dedicated to educating and providing
better living conditions for street children, or maybe you
could do so for your employee’s child.

Celebrating Children’s Day is about giving children the right

to enjoy and grow into healthy and educated citizens of the
country, and if you can teach your child the value of sharing
with others what they are lucky to have, then not only your
child will grow into a responsible human being, but also
another child who otherwise could have ended up being a
delinquent, had it not been for your thoughtfulness.

As mentioned earlier, Children's day in India is celebrated on Pandit Nehruji's birthday as a

day of fun and frolic, a celebration of childhood, children and Nehruji's love for them.  As a
tribute to his love for children, Nehruji's  birthday is celebrated all over India as 'CHILDREN'S
DAY

Children's day was first celebrated worldwide in October, 1953, under the sponsorship of
International Union for Child Welfare, Geneva. The idea of Universal Children's Day was
mooted by late Shri V.K. Krishna Menon and adopted by the United Nations General Assembly
in 1954.

20 November is Universal Children's Day.  First proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in

1954, it was established to encourage all countries to institute a day, firstly to promote mutual
exchange and understanding among children and secondly to initiate action to benefit and
promote the welfare of the world's children.

20 November is the anniversary of the day when the United Nations General Assembly
adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959. The Convention on the Rights of the
Child was then signed on the same day in 1989, which has since been ratified by 191 states.