UN Holidays - International Children of Soldiers Day (Red Hand Day)

Every day on February 12, people celebrate the day of remembrance of children who participated in military operations The main goal of this event is to support minor citizens who were deprived of childhood due to armed conflicts between countries or within states Today, children are used as fighters in places like Congo, Uganda, Sudan, Myanmar, the Philippines and others In addition, minors are recruited into organized illegal groups united to implement specific criminal objectives Therefore, it is almost impossible to determine their exact number Over 17 countries around the world take children into military organizations In 2009, about 250,000 guys, according to reliable information, were in the army, and some of them were female On February 12, actions are organized all over the world, the main task of which is to attract as many people as possible to this problem Residents of different countries are taking measures against the participation of minors in military conflicts In this case, the Red Hand logo is used, symbolizing the bloody palm of a child This holiday was first held in 2002, when the treaty to the Convention on the Rights of Children, dedicated to their inclusion in the army, came into force This event just happened on February 12th This document was established by the UN representative body two years earlier in the spring, and to date it has been signed by over 100 countries Several international agencies have also spoken out against the exploitation of children as soldiers Recruiting minors to fight in war is contrary to the principles of human rights According to the amendments to the Geneva Convention, which came into force in 1977, persons under fifteen years of age are not subject to conscription into the army, and they are prohibited from participating in military conflicts In 2008, children and teenagers from different countries initiated the campaign by placing a drawing of the Red Hand on sheets of paper and banners calling for an end to the use of children as soldiers On the territory of the states of Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire, a lot of events, actions, processions were organized and held, and a large number of petitions were signed Posters depicting the “red hand” were displayed near the buildings of legislative organizations More than 250,000 similar symbols were prepared by people from 101 countries on the planet On February 12, 2009, they were delivered to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in New York by a Colombian child soldier accompanied by young German activists The Secretary General subsequently noted that it looked amazing and the UN will do everything possible to prevent such lawless acts against children After this event, the states of Sierra Leone, Congo, Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire were blacklisted