Queen Mathilde Celebrates Universal Children’s Day

This past Thursday, Queen Mathilde attended the celebration of the International Day of the Rights of the Child.

The Queen attended a roundtable meeting organized by UNICEF Belgium and Plan Belgique, a non-governmental organization independent. This year’s celebration was focused on the 25th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The celebration took place at the sports center ADEPS in Auderghem, where about 400 children greeted the Queen at her arrival.

In her speech, Queen Mathilde expressed her pleasure of celebrating the anniversary of the Convention with the children. The Queen said that there are children in the world who still live in difficulties, victims of war, natural disaster, poverty. Queen Mathilde mentioned her trip to Haiti in 2012 after the earthquake when she visited emergency schools set up by UNICEF in refugee camps.

To the children, the Queen said: “With your teachers, you are true advocates of the child. In your classes and in your World Schools Rights of the Child, you are particularly sensitive to respect the rights of every child”.

In the afternoon, the children performed a flash-mob in honor of Queen Mathilde.

Since 2009, Queen Mathilde is the Honorary President of Unicef Belgium. The Convention on the Rights of the Child was signed on November 20, 1989.

Filed under Belgium
Tagged Children, Patronage, Queen Mathilde of the Belgians, UNICEF.