The United Nations Universal Children's Day 2014 falls on 20 November and it is a specially designated event to foster understanding between children and to promote international togetherness and awareness among children.

Nearly 25 years ago, the world made a promise to children: that we would do everything in our power to protect and promote their rights to survive and thrive, to learn and grow, to make their voices heard and to reach their full potential. In spite of the overall gains, there are many children who have fallen even further behind. Old challenges have combined with new problems to deprive many children of their rights and the benefits of development.

To meet these challenges, and to reach those children who are hardest to reach, we need new ways of thinking and new ways of doing - for adults and children.

Universal Children's Day 2014: Facts, History and Aims of the United Nations Day

The date, 20 November, was chosen to coincide with the UN General Assembly adoption of the 'Declaration of the Rights of the Child' in 1959 and the adoption of the 'Convention on the Rights of the Child' on 20 November 1989.

"We were all children once. And we all share the desire for the well-being of our children, which has always been and will continue to be the most universally cherished aspiration of humankind," the UN said in statement issued ahead of the day.

Some facts about child rights

According to Unicef as of 2013, there are an estimated 168 million children aged five to 17 worldwide who are involved with child labour.

Every year, there are more than three million reports of child abuse made in the United States alone, involving more than six million children.

Every year, there are an estimated 34,000 homicide deaths in children under the age of 15. 

Children’s Day 2014: 5 reasons it sucks to be a child in this day and age