CubaPLUS Magazine

It is impossible to overlook International Children’s Day, a celebration dedicated to a vital segment of the population—children—who will one day hold the future of their families and their country in their hands as they reach adulthood. 

Cuba commemorates this day with numerous activities in schools and various other venues, where children take center stage as the main protagonists of the festivities. 

“The children are the hope of the world,” expressed Cuba’s National Hero, José Martí, and it is precisely for this reason that they deserve all the love, care, and rights to live in peace. 

This observance was established by the United Nations General Assembly on June 1, 1956, with the aim of recognizing children as full holders of rights: from health and education to nutrition, non-discrimination, a dignified home, access to information, play, consideration of their opinions in decisions affecting them, and active participation in society. 

In Cuba, children’s rights are enshrined in the Constitution, which in Article 86 mandates the State, society, and families to provide special protection to girls, boys, and adolescents, ensuring their harmonious and comprehensive development. 

Furthermore, Article 73 establishes the public nature and function of education, which must be free and of high quality—a duty and an inalienable right of all Cubans, without distinction or privilege, from early childhood through postgraduate university education. 

Additionally, children’s rights are also supported by the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which has been in force in Cuba since September 1991. 

This day is celebrated not only in Cuba but also in many other countries, including Albania, Angola, Bulgaria, China, Ecuador, France, Nicaragua, and Poland. 

Today, given the difficult global circumstances, we must exercise even greater care for our children. Let us remember the following thought from Martí: 

“We work for the children, because children are those who know how to love, because children are the hope of the world. And we want them to love us, and to see us as something dear to their hearts… Without children, one cannot live, just as the earth cannot live without light.”