Улаанбаатар
Today marks Children’s Day in Mongolia
Society
Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. Mongolia has annually celebrated Children’s Day since 1952.
Following the Democratic Revolution, the State Baga Khural made an amendment to Article 32.3 of the Law on Labor on January 24, 1991, adding ‘Mother and Children’s Day - June 1’ to the list of public holidays. The day was later renamed ‘Children’s Day’ in 2003. However this year, public celebration and events for Children’s Day have been cancelled for the second consecutive year due to the global pandemic.
The celebration of June 1 as International Children’s Day was initiated by the International Federation of Democratic Women during their meeting in November 1949. Thus, countries of the world began to celebrate the day from 1950.
There is little information on how the day was celebrated in Mongolia in 1950-1951. However, there are archival records being kept by the National Archives of Mongolia on how Mongolia celebrated Children’s Day on June 1, 1952, organizing many events for children nationwide.
The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child on November 20, 1959, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child later on November 20, 1989. Mongolia became the 5th country to ratify the convention on children’s rights. In line with the convention, the State Great Khural adopted the Law on the Protection of the Rights of the Child in 1996.
The number of children in Mongolia is currently at 1.2 million, making up 35.4 percent of the country’s total population. In 2020, there were 77,716 new born children at the national level.
