By Lydia Lanman, AFL Staff

November 20th is National Child Day. This day was created in 1993 to recognize children and youth as important and valuable members of society, and calls upon the public to remember that children, too, need respect in order to reach their full potentials.

On this day, as we celebrate children, we must also remember that there are a large number of our young who are not able to access basic necessities of food, clothing and shelter. The highest levels of poverty are among children; the effects of this poverty are vast and far-reaching. Children in poverty are not availed the same opportunities of participation in extra-curricular activities. Health among children living in poverty is usually poorer than those children whose basic physical and social needs are being met on a consistent basis.

November 20th will mark the 11th anniversary of the UN’s adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It is under this convention that children’s rights are acknowledged and addressed. In order to overcome the inequities inherent in poverty, the convention acknowledged every child’s right to education, right to be heard, right to health and healthcare, and right to be protected from harm.

In order to commemorate this anniversary and to acknowledge the role that labour can take in assuring children’s rights, the Alberta Federation of Labour’s Women’s Committee has launched a poster and logo contest. Submissions are being sought from all children of affiliated members.

With some help from their parents, we are asking children between the ages of 5-11 to design a poster and/or logo that depicts the basic rights of a child. All entries are to be submitted to the attention of the AFL Women’s Committee. The Committee will review all submissions and make a recommendation to the Executive Council who will announce the winner. The Federation will use the selected poster to launch its National Child Day campaign and will include the design on such things as t-shirts, pins and buttons. This selected entry will also become the official AFL National Child Day 2000 poster and logo.

All submissions should:

• Reflect the basic rights of children
• Include somewhere, ‘National Child Day’ and ‘November 20th’
• Include the child’s: full name, address, age and the name(s) of the parent(s) and their union(s).

The deadline for submissions has been extended to August 30th so that this important activity may be included at this year’s AFL Kids’ Camp.

Kids, take a few moments to picture your rights and the rights of all children.