Documentary exhibition «The world begins with childhood»

Published: May 29, 2024

On May 29, 2024, on the eve of Children’s Day, the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus opened a documentary exhibition «The World Begins from Childhood», dedicated to this date.

The decision to celebrate Children’s Day was made in 1925 at the World Conference on the Welfare of Children in Geneva. However, celebrating Children’s Day on June 1 began after a congress held in 1949, at which the International Democratic Federation of Women decided to ensure the well-being of the younger generation. Since then, the UN has considered the protection of the rights, life and health of children to be one of the main directions of its activities. This day is a reminder to adults of the need to respect children’s rights to life, freedom of opinion, education, rest and leisure, protection from physical, psychological violence and exploitation of child labor as necessary conditions for the formation of a humane and fair society.

All children’s rights and freedoms are reflected in the «Declaration of the Rights of the Child», which was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1959. It proclaims the equal rights of children in the field of upbringing, education, social security, physical and spiritual development, regardless of skin color, nationality, social origin, property status, etc. The Declaration calls on parents, public organizations, and governments to recognize the rights of children and promote their implementation. In the Republic of Belarus, child protection is one of the priority areas of state activity.

We have long had glorious traditions of celebrating this day. On June 1, concerts and evenings are held in all schools and children’s institutions. In city entertainment centers, children are shown films, competitions and festivals are held, music and children’s laughter are heard everywhere.

The exhibition presents unique documents: Regulations on the commission to improve the lives of children in 1923, questionnaires about the priorities of students in one of the Minsk schools, a 1st grade lesson program, a logbook for recording the progress and attendance of the school of the family camp of the Sverdlov partisan brigade, touching letters from children from German captivity and testimonies of juvenile prisoners of the children’s camp «Children’s Village Skobrovka», instructions for the repatriation of orphans from Germany in 1945, a draft UN resolution on the creation of the International Emergency Fund for Children in 1945, an extract from the minutes of the meeting of the Bureau of the Komsomol Central Committee on the organization of an exhibition of children’s drawings on the Great Patriotic War, order of the Ministry of Culture of the Byelorussian SSR on the results of the republican competition for composing music by children and youth – students of music schools, colleges and participants in creative circles of the Byelorussian SSR in 1974, Law of the Republic of Belarus «On the Rights of the Child», other documents.

Children’s Day is not only one of the most joyful holidays for children, but also a reminder to adults that children need their constant care and protection, and that adults are responsible for them. This day also serves as a reminder to society that observance and respect for the rights of the child is the most important condition for the formation of a humane, fair and prosperous society.