Radio Miraya
2853: UNICEF South Sudan: World Children's Day Celebration
about today, the 20th of November marks the World Children's Day. Did you know that? Well, now you know, this was the-- this was fast established in 1954 as Universal Children's Day and he celebrated on the 20th of November each year to promote international togetherness, awareness among children worldwide, and also improving children's welfare. Now, since 1990, World Children's Day also marks the anniversary of the day that the UN General Assembly adopted both the Declaration and the Convention on Children's Rights. Now, in South Sudan, UNICEF will be hosting an event today at the basketball stadium from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., where 500 children are expected together to express their voices through music, poetry, dance, and drama. To talk more about the event and the significance of this day for South Sudan joining the rest of the world, we have the Young Reporters Program, Joanne Ivelin, UNICEF Young Reporter, Nuela Khaji, and also Ronda. And Joanne, too, is here with us. Well, Joanne, good morning. Welcome to the program. Thank you for joining us. Good morning, Irene, and I'm glad to be here. Right, so we have Ronda, right? Yes. And Nuela? Yes. OK, welcome to the program. Thank you so much. All right, so I'd like to start with Joanne. So I get the big people out of the picture since it is Children's Day. Yes, Joanne. Just provide to us an overview of this World Children's Day in June, but today. Well, thank you so much, Irene. Yeah, so the World Children's Day, as we don't UNICEF, is all about children. So we thought we should celebrate it in a very mega way, where we have to use it to celebrate and to get the voices of children out there. So they've been doing a lot of trainings on storytelling, news writing, reporting, and then Dan to drama with the biggest artists in the country. We have the John Farb as of Susie Nadu, Nita, baby. We have poets as well. We do have people that specialize in drama. So they've been going through training and they're collaborating with them. So today they'll be at the basketball stadium and they'll be performing. It's more like a festival or a fun concert for all children. So it's going to be fire, just like the young people call it. It is. It is amazing. It is. All right, so is it free or is there some entrance fees? No, it is free. It is free. OK. So anybody is eligible? Yeah. But we prioritize the children. Specify the age. Well, children, if you have a child and you'd like them to come and you can take care of them because we're going to have a lot of children. Right. And you speak about the big artists. Do they have children friendly content? Because I would imagine we are having, maybe, children artists or something like that. No, they've actually worked with the children to produce songs. So they'll also be presenting these words. They're tailored to the children. Yes. OK, so after that, I mean, from what time is it? From three? From two to five? You know our problem. Timekeeping. Timekeeping. And the thing is also-- Do you have a plan B for that? We have the diplomats coming in. We have the government of issues. We're expecting at least the Ministry of the Ministry of Gender and other ministers will be there. Hopefully, also, one of the vice presidents will be there. So it will also have an impact on when they get there, because they're the big people. Ah, so they're well-influenced there. OK. Well, we show all the best there. And when you say that children were going through intensive training, how did you get the children? Did you go to different schools or how was this done? Yeah, so we have a UNICEF Young Reporters Program, which partners with all schools in Juba. So we get students from the school and pupils as well. And then they get into the program. Even those that were not in the program, we managed to talk to the schools and get more of the talented children from the schools to be able to study and from partners as well. OK. Now that the big people are out of the way, I'm coming to Newella and Rhonda. Yes, and Rhonda and Rhonda, what does this team mean to you, all children's day? Actually, the day means a lot, because it's a day that children get to be free to speak about issues facing them, to speak their minds, like the way she just mentioned, where children are given the space to relax. Because mostly in South Sudan, like the routine things are to go to school, come back home, do domestic work. So on such a day, when we organize events like this, children get to free up their minds. They do things they love. They get to showcase their talents in different ways. Right. I would like to hear from Newella. Yeah, it also honours the rights of children by giving them chance to speak up their rights. Right, right. So why is celebrating World Children's Day important, especially in South Sudan, Newella? Yeah, it also helps children to create and make actions, plan for success. So what are some of the action plans that you have on paper to the leaders? Because I'm told, diplomats are going to be there, and some leaders too, Newella. OK, my action plan is like the leaders should also provide for children's schools and give them their rights in so many ways. Right, by saying give them their rights, what do you mean? Like right to school, right to play, right to express their feelings. Right. So they need to make the environment favourable for children to attend school, right? OK, thank you, Rhonda. Was it essential to listen to the future? I mean, this is a theme. You are the future. Was it important that we should give you our ears as children? Yes, as you have mentioned, children are the future. So when we are listening to the future, that's mean we are listening to new ideas. We are listening from the capacity or, yes, the capacity of a child, like what a child thinks, what a child wants, how they want the world to be because the adults have made a lot of things. I'm not saying most of the things that they did are bad, but they have also made harm and good at the same time. So it's time to listen to what those kids want, the kind of life they want, the kind of future they want to possess, yes. So what is the kind of future you want? Yes, the kind of future I want is to see every child getting their rights, like as she mentioned, going to school, getting the kind of job that they want, equality, being served, and also I want to see zero discrimination. Like we've seen most of children who are living with disabilities, they are very little facilities for them, mostly the schools that have those facilities are the government schools. So it becomes very difficult for those ones who are in private schools, living alone those ones who are in the rural areas because they don't have these services. We want to see child marriage being put to an end because a child has a dream in their mind or they have a dream for their future. So when they are being limited by giving their hands for marriage, that means we are destroying what they already have for themselves. And also I want to see zero hunger because because of the economic crisis, children are really not having the meals they are supposed to be having. They're suffering the most. In a will, there is malnutrition, so children are really going through a lot. Are there some of the action points you have for the leaders? The action points that we have because from the capacity of a young person, the only thing we could do is to advocate or to use our voices because the action usually depends on the elder ones. They have the capability, they have the resources to do action. So for us, it's just to push on saying that it's really affecting and many children have died, many children are suffering. So the only way I can contribute to the change is by using my voice and to navigate. And just give me a picture of how today it's going to look like. Are you going to have a debate? Apart from the musicians that were mentioned, what part are children playing? Children are going to participate in poems. Of course, we get a lot of messages out of poems. They are going to participate in drama, talking about the lives happening there in the street. And I'm sure it's going to be very educative, especially for the elders who don't get that opportunity to see what is really happening on ground. So they will get to know that there is really a lot going on. And children, we are going to see children making songs or performing songs. Yeah, and also dances because we have really creative children and we have talented children. Why not? And Nuella, will you be presenting anything today? Yeah, actually I'll be thinking. Oh, which song is that? The title is "My Right as a Child". Nice. Do you mind giving me a go-pella? Okay. Maybe a chorus. Okay. That's right. And your dreams are valid, girl. Keep dreaming. Thank you so much, Nuella and Randa. I do appreciate your time. See you at the Nimra Tsellata basketball. Thank you so much. All right, bye-bye.