International Children's Day returns on June 1st

PRESS SERVICE OF THE RUSSIAN CHILDREN'S FUND

After closed borders, fear and despair, people go out into the streets. The first of them, of course, are children. Last year, the Russian Children's Fund was forced to interrupt the tradition, canceling due to quarantine a holiday of childhood, although this tradition is already seventy (!) years old.

Let us remind those who do not know or have forgotten that this holiday was established in Paris, at the Congress of the World Democratic Federation of Women back in 1949. The war ended just four years ago, and the countries of Europe have reaped its rewards. The world not only established a post-war existence, not only restored cities and factories. The world has testified that in countries that have survived the war, there are many street children who have lost not only their parents, but at least some relatives. And the women of the world proposed to the peoples, countries, governments: let's establish a Day of the celebration of childhood, the values of children's life, let's make it so that on the day of this holiday, children enjoy life, and adults summed up their labors for the benefit of suffering childhood, admit their imperfections and take up a new job for the benefit of those who are unable to defend themselves on their own.

This call for the protection of childhood was THEN heard. The United Nations Organization, having created the United Nations Children's Fund - UNICEF, has launched a diverse world work. And the Soviet Union, since 1950, annually held, as the Russian Federation is now conducting, the International Children's Day in the most important capacity - a holiday for children, and a critical assessment of their efforts to protect childhood - by adults.

Another important detail: since 1988, immediately after its creation, the International Children's Day has been organized - first by the Soviet, and then by the Russian Children's Fund.

Holiday 2021 - 34th Children's Day in a row. Minus one. The same crisis year 2020 that blocked the coronavirus. Today, thus, for the 34th time, the Russian Children's Fund is returning to the fulfillment of its duty.

However, one has to reckon with the realities.

Firstly, 19 theaters in Moscow, which, starting with the Bolshoi Theater of Russia, have agreed to invite children and donate charitable performances to the foundation, can only receive half of the auditorium each. And these are the most respectable halls! For example, the Central Academic Theater of the Russian Army, the Russian Academic Youth Theater, the Gorky Moscow Art Theater, the Et Cetera Theater, the N. Sats Musical Children's Theater. Or at least part of the Great Circus on Vernadsky Street! So the venerable venues of Moscow will receive 5,300 young guests, half as many as they could!

On this day, at different venues, the children will see wonderful performances: "Pippi, Long Stocking", "Mowgli", "The Golden Key or the Adventures of Buratino", "The Little Humpbacked Horse" and other classics of Russian drama.

The Bolshoi will host the official opening ceremony of the International Children's Day, which will be chaired by the Chairman of the Russian Children's Fund and Chairman of the new all-Russian public-state organization “Children's Defense Fund”, writer and academician of the Russian Academy of Education Albert Anatolyevich Likhanov. He will read out the greeting of the President of the Russian Federation, Putin, addressed to all the children of the country. This greeting, of course, will be read a little earlier, addressing the children, and the heads of the regions where similar performances and performances are held: Khabarovsk, Altai, Krasnodar Territories, Tyumen, Sverdlovsk, Kirov, Tambov, Ulyanovsk, Leningrad, Oryol, Penza regions and Sevastopol.

Another important detail: only children of Moscow and the Moscow region will be guests of the theaters in the capital. Children from the regions of the country celebrate the festival at home to take risks. But they will all receive gifts after the performances from Moscow, from the Russian Children's Fund. And these gifts have already been delivered to the fund's field offices.

An unexpected result: of course, it is tempting to come to Moscow and attend a holiday in the capital, but if you understand that this is impossible for valid reasons, you can successfully celebrate the holiday at home, having received the same gifts as Moscow. But the number of children celebrating their day of protection in the whole country has increased. According to preliminary estimates, there are only 13,200 of them. And more children who are in difficult life circumstances will visit the artists.

In total, 65 branches of the Russian Children's Fund invite over 100,000 children to various festivities on this day. And no one will be left without gifts!

We emphasize: International Children's Day 2021 is held with the funds of the President's grant, with the participation of hundreds and hundreds of volunteers across the country.

REFERENCE:

The Russian (formerly Soviet) Children's Fund is one of the oldest charitable organizations. It was founded on October 14, 1987 and has been helping children throughout Russia and the CIS for 34 years, relying both on its own branches in 74 regions of the Russian Federation, and on the efforts of numerous volunteers. The fund's work is aimed at implementing 16 regional and 17 federal programs. Has consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC UN). He initiated the signing and ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted by the UN General Assembly on November 20, 1989. The Russian Children's Fund is registered under No. 577170005 in the state register of socially oriented non-profit organizations of the Russian Federation.