Euroviews. A century of making the world a better place for children could be undone if we don't act now

“I am small but my ideas are big. I want to make the world a better place. I am asking (world leaders), please provide space for me to speak freely and share all my ideas. When you listen to me, you are listening to all future generations.”

These are the words of Bhumika, a 16-year-old girl from Nepal who dreams of a world where every child’s voice is heard and respected. Like many children she is full of ambition and hope, telling me with great enthusiasm about her ideas for the future.

This year marks 100 years since the League of Nations adopted our founder Eglantyne Jebb’s Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child.

The world at that time was a very different place for children than it is today. Regarded as the property of their families, rather than a person in their own right, children’s voices went unheard.

A child was expected to contribute to the family income, perhaps working on the family farm, in a factory or a mine.

Education was the realm of the privileged. Few children finished primary school; even fewer completed high school. A girl marrying at 16 was not seen as extraordinary.

A lot has changed in 100 years. When Jebb penned her rights document, one-third of children died before their fifth birthday. Today, that probability has fallen to less than four in 100.

Almost nine in 10 primary and six in 10 secondary-age school children now complete their education. About 90% of children are no longer forced to engage in the kind of work that deprives them of their childhood and harms their development.

While it is outrageous that one in two children suffer from some sort of violence each year, attitudes are shifting, albeit slowly. In 2024, Tajikistan became the 67th country in the world to outlaw corporal