Monday, November 20, World Children's Rights Day!

The community of Saint-Martin organizes a week dedicated to children every year in November, in partnership with Sint Maarten as part of World Children's Rights Day. This year, while hurricane IRMA prevented this annual meeting, the Solidarity and Families Center, Children and Families department – ​​wanted to mark this event with a press release recalling the rights of the child.

Defending the rights of the child is an everyday mission for administrative services and more broadly for everyone. This is why in 1996, the French Parliament decided to make November 20 the "World Day for the Defense and Promotion of the Rights of the Child" (law 96/296 of April 9, 1996).

This day dedicated to children is a special moment whose objective is to raise awareness among the population about respect for children's rights and the many injustices that still persist . This day also highlights the international convention on the rights of the child adopted by the United Nations on November 20, 1989. It is made up of 54 articles and has been ratified by 191 countries out of 193 (only the United States and Somalia have refused to commit).

Thus, the convention recalls that the child is a fragile being who must be protected. The child has rights such as that of being protected, educated, cared for, regardless of where in the world he or she is born. He must be able to live the life of a child with all that this entails of rights and duties.

 Some eloquent figures:
• One million poor children in the world
• 19,000 mistreated children
• 76,000 are in danger in a degraded family context which threatens their educational and/or material development
• Some 240,000 children placed or looked after
• 150,000 girls and boys leave the school system every year without any prospects
• 15% of children who arrive at college do not understand what they read…
The Solidarity and Families Center – Children and Families Department – of the community of Saint-Martin acts daily in favor of children in difficulty thanks to its support missions.
Maternal and Child Protection (PMI) is another free public service of the community, open to pregnant women and to moms. The PMI carries out its missions within the Houses of Solidarity and Families of the community of Saint-Martin (dispensaries). Its objective: to support you as best as possible before and after the birth of your baby.

Les Maisons de Solidarité et Familles:
- Concordia: 10, rue Mont Carmel: 0590 87 93 22
- Sandy Ground: 104, route de Sandy Ground: 0590 87 07 52.
- Quartier d'Orléans: 11, rue de Coralita: 0590 87 37 21.
Open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday , from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Wednesday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.