Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

If today nature gave a warm sunny day, it becomes doubly joyful, because on the first day of summer many countries celebrate International Children's Day.

Children are the most precious treasure and greatest happiness for many societies. It’s important to understand that even a warm word, a smile can make each child at least a little bit happier, because all children are dear for us and all of them are our future, for which we - adults - take the responsibility.

Children account for about 20-25 percent of the population in each country. In different countries, they are exposed to various dangers, from which they must be protected.

The World Conference for the Well-being of Children in Geneva, Switzerland, proclaimed June 1 to be International Children's Day in 1925. Many countries hold mass rallies in support of the children this day.

International Children's Day is a reminder to adults about the need to respect children's rights to life, to freedom of opinion and religion, education, rest and leisure, to protection from physical and psychological violence, to protection from exploitation of child labor as the necessary conditions for the formation of a humane and just society.

Unfortunately, children's rights are violated frequently. According to a sad statistics, millions of children suffer from a lack of medicines, die due to lack of medical care, and do not receive adequate education because of a lack of educational institutions. A huge number of children do not have a home and fast.

This cheerful holiday was not created just for fun. Its main purpose is a public reminder of the need to protect the rights of the child.

In today's world experiencing the human catastrophe, children remain the mostly affected victims.

The terrifying statistics of the UNICEF said that Syria’s five-year long war has led to the creation of 2.4 million child refugees as an estimated 8.4 million children or more than 80 percent of Syria’s child population were affected by the conflict.

Azerbaijan, with about 20 laws governing the rights of children and a total of 40 legal clauses that regulate recreation, treatment, and education of children, has also experienced war and a lot of human tragedies.

The Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh left an indelible path in the memory of many Azerbaijani children, who is still their nightmare.

Armenia's invasion into Azerbaijani lands which started in the early 1990s and that is still ongoing today, resulted in the death of more than 20,000 Azerbaijanis, when almost 100,000 were injured, 50,000 were disabled and 4,866 have been reported missing.

Nearly 38 percent of internally displaced persons, the main victims of Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan, are children under 15 years.

Azerbaijan also lost many beautiful angels during the Khojaly Massacre in 1992, claiming the lives of 613 civilians and leaving 1,000 people disabled. Eight families were exterminated, 25 children lost both parents, and 130 children lost one parent.

Being one of the most terrible and tragic pages of Azerbaijan history, the Khojaly genocide, which took place during this war, terrified the world community because the unprecedented cruelty shown by the Armenian aggressors against the civilian population.

"That night, my father had just returned from the post. He said the situation had gotten worse. My mother was setting the table. We just wanted to gather around the table. Then, the gun fire opened in all directions. After that time, Khojaly was consistently under fire. There was destruction and blood everywhere. I, my younger sister, my mother, my aunt, and other relatives tried to hide, but the Armenians captured all of us. Corpses were everywhere. Bodies of infants were hung over the fences," Taleh, the then six-year old witness of the massacre, wrotevoicing his hope the tragedy not to repeat again.

The children rights are protected on the state level in Azerbaijan and they enjoy equal opportunities, as the government regards the young generation the future of the nation.

Today, all the children in the country enjoy equal rights. The Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Azerbaijani government are working closely with UNICEF and jointly develop various projects and reforms at the state level.

Let's make children happy by giving them smile and support!

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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