Days Until World Children's Day

About World Children's Day

November 20 commemorates the date in 1959 the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, and the date in 1989 it adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child — two of the most significant international children's rights documents, adopted exactly 30 years apart on the same calendar date.

The observance promotes international togetherness and awareness of children's welfare, and is distinct from various individual countries' own separately dated national Children's Day observances.

Individual countries mark their own separate national Children's Day on dates that vary widely — Japan's falls on May 5, and Brazil's on October 12 — existing independently of this internationally coordinated UN date.

UNICEF actively promotes the day worldwide with country-specific campaigns, often timed to highlight ongoing national child-welfare legislation or policy debates relevant to that particular UN member state.