EUAM launches campaign for children ahead of International Human Rights Day

November 20, 2020

The European Union Advisory Mission (EUAM) has teamed up with the National Police Department of Juvenile Protection for an awareness campaign dedicated to the upcoming International Human Rights Day on 10 December.  

Human rights is a more challenging issue with the ongoing pandemic, which is why EUAM experts came up with the campaign idea to respond to the present reality. A must accessory for today, a facemask, will not only protect citizens from COVID-19, but also become a constant reminder of human rights protection.

The campaign will be held in special centres for vulnerable children age from 3 to16, who are under the observance of police in Kyiv region. The idea was not only to explain to kids their fundamental rights but also encourage them to express how do they see and understand them. Children were asked to put their vision of Human Rights into their drawings, which will eventually be printed on re-usable facemasks.

“Drawing is also a creative way to rethink and put in practice something rather theoretical. So, every time kids will put their facemask on, they will see their drawings and think about their rights,” said Anna Lazzari, EUAM Senior Human Rights and Minorities Adviser. “We hope that this campaign will not only shape their vision and understanding of human rights, but also will assist building their personality, understanding core values and becoming stronger and more confident people in future.”

Prior to the visit of the juvenile police officers to children’s centres, EUAM experts provided  them key messages and tools on how to conduct child-friendly meetings and how to discuss with kids the most relevant human rights topics – the right to education, right to personal development and others – through games and drawings. For the next stage, police officers will collect the children’s drawings and EUAM will print those on the facemasks for kids.