The International Day of Play
By Heinrich O. Nicholas
Each country has holidays, days the country celebrates important events, achievements, and people. However, there are days celebrated internationally; for instance, the World Environment Day is celebrated across the world on 5th June every year. These international days are designated by the United Nations General Assembly, after an agency of the United Nations Organization such as UNICEF or WHO proposes the day as a way of highlighting the specific event for purposes of achieving some objectives within their operational jurisdiction. Since the formation of United Nations in 1945, there are over 200 international days designated for different purposes. The most recent international day that the UN General Assembly voted for on 25th March, 2024 and adopted a resolution that recognizes the right of the child to leisure, play, rest and recreational activities is the International Day of Play. Like other days such as the World Wildlife Day, which champion the need for co-existence between humans and wildlife, the International Day of Play champions the right of a child to play.
The International Day of Play is first celebrated today 11th June, 2024. The lead UN agency overseeing the day is UNICEF. There are other national and international organizations that will participate in facilitating, organizing and celebrating the day in each country. As the first international day being celebrated, the event is not popular in a number of countries. This is not unique because even the first World Wildlife Day on 3rd March 2014 was not vibrant.
It is expected that subsequent celebrations will be more vibrant; the governments in different jurisdictions will create space, resources and time to celebrate the day. Subsequent celebrations will remind us that creating time and space to play with children does not demean our adulthood. In fact, play with children and among children promotes social inclusion, tolerance, peace-building and helps in conflict prevention. Annual themes will be formulated for each year’s celebration to reflect the realities affecting children. Such themes are also developed for World Wildlife Day.
Heinrich O. Nicholas is an environmentalist and a social researcher
Comments
Post a Comment