MEDIA ADVISORY - What do Canadian youth want? Our rights! When do we want them? 30 years ago!
TORONTO, Nov. 14, 2019 /CNW/ - Canada's leading youth activists are celebrating National Child Day and World Children's Day by raising their voices at UNICEF Canada's first ever Youth Activism Summit on November 20 at the Toronto Reference Library.
Nov. 20, 2019 marks the 30th anniversary of the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC), the landmark treaty that lays out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights that all children everywhere are entitled to. They are still waiting.
Canada played a key role globally in the adoption of the CRC. Despite some progress, children's rights are far from fulfilled, such as the right to be protected from physical or emotional harm, the right to safe drinking water, the right to a clean and safe environment, the right to a safe place to live and the right to have their opinions heard and taken seriously.
The Summit will inspire, engage and mobilize young people to take over the future and stand up for their rights. They will hear keynote speeches from influential youth activists, an intergenerational panel on the power of youth voice and workshop sessions hosted by prominent child-serving organizations.
WHAT: UNICEF Canada's Youth Activism Summit
WHO: Hundreds of Canada's leading youth advocates plus,
Moderators: CBC Kids News' Saara Chaudry, Kwaku Agyemang, and Brock Hart.
Youth Keynote Speakers:
- Autumn Peltier, 15, water protector in First Nations communities and across Mother Earth. Named chief water commissioner by the Anishinabek Nation in 2019, Autumn has addressed world leaders at the UN General Assembly and was nominated for an International Children's Peace Prize.
- Rayne Fisher-Quann, 18, activist, public speaker and organizer of March For Our Education. Rayne was named one of Canada's Most Powerful Women by Refinery29 and a Woman of the Year by Chatelaine.
Intergenerational Panel Speakers:
- Kassandra Neranjan, 22, global gender justice activist
- Samantha Walsh, 17, LGBTQ2S+ and mental health activist
- Olivier Adkin-Kaya, 18, Climate Strike Canada and Edmonton Youth For Climate organizer. Olivier is also a litigant in a charter case against the trans-mountain pipeline expansion.
- Abram Ilcisin, 15, youth climate organizer.
- Cam Gordon, adult, Head of Communications, Twitter Canada.
Workshop Leaders:
- Justice for Children and Youth
- Equitas International
- Dr. John Cameron of Dalhousie University
- Desmond Cole, activist, author and journalist
- Irwin Elman, former Child and Youth Advocate of Ontario
- Apathy is Boring
- Climate Strike Canada
- Climate Action Network
- Youth Climate Lab
- Five Fourteen
- Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada
- Canadian Civil Liberties Association
WHEN: November 20, 2019, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
WHERE: Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge St., Toronto, ON
About UNICEF Canada's One Youth
From 25th to 1st place, UNICEF Canada's One Youth is working to make Canada the best place in the world to grow up in. As the global UN agency for kids, UNICEF has worked to improve conditions for every child around the world for more than 70 years, and has saved more children's lives than any other humanitarian organization. UNICEF Canada's One Youth brings that work to Canada, by building the new gold standard for measuring child well-being, and developing and testing innovative solutions to the challenges they face. We are calling on Canadians to take action and do better for children and youth.
UNICEF is supported entirely by voluntary donations. For more information about UNICEF Canada's One Youth, please visit http://www.oneyouthcanada.ca. For updates, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
SOURCE UNICEF Canada
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