At a time when over one hundred and twenty-five million people are displaced globally, in the many conflicts and wars, with children constituting over 50 per cent of the total displacement, there is a need for a special emphasis on the protection of children. The Global Network of Religions for Children (GNRC) Secretary-General, Dr. Mustafa Y. Ali, reiterated this call at the G20 Interfaith Forum in Cape Town, South Africa, from 10th – 14th August, ahead of the G20 Summit of Heads of States to be held in November this year, in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Moderating a session on Child Rights and Dignity: A Religious Imperative, the GNRC SG read a message from a concerned child from Palestine, which read in part, “…the children are crying from hunger—but there is nothing we can do. In the West Bank, things are more stable, but our mental health is very bad. We are broken from the inside because of all the sadness. The situation is very, very hard. Sadly, we just HOPE the war will end, and life will return to how it was before.”
The GNRC SG reminded the leaders gathered that despite protection in international law and conventions expressly forbidding targeting children and ensuring their protection, children continued to suffer the consequences of wars around the world. He cited the recent Abu Dhabi Declaration of the GNRC Sixth Forum in which children called on all adults;
THE CALL OF THE CHILD
Our voices exist across your communities, asking not for extraordinary measures, but for fundamental rights: safety, education, secure and sustainable environments, and the opportunity to grow in faith, responsibility, and dignity. Our call travels further than borders, cultures, religions, genders, and backgrounds, trying to remind you of your sacred mission to protect and nurture us. We deserve to have a voice, and we deserve to be part of the decisions that affect our lives. At the GNRC Sixth Forum, as children, we persuade you to listen to our voices, which express our ideas, concerns, and willingness to work together, and the urgency for us to become one humanity.
In 2024, Arigatou International convened the GNRC Sixth Forum, hosted by the Interfaith Alliance for Safer Communities, in which the Abu Dhabi Declaration and Plan of Action committed to the protection and answering the call of children worldwide.
