Message from MNO President Tony Belcourt

November 20, 2007 is the 18th Anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. It is the “age of majority” for children in international terms. In this significant year, it is appropriate that we in the Métis Nation take our place in promoting the awareness of this Convention. I also urge our people to get involved in the “UNICEF Child-Friendly Cities Initiative”.

Bringing it Close to Home

Both the UN’s political commitment at the international level and Canada’s commitment at the national level have contributed to the treaty’s strength and success. In order to evoke social change closer to home, for every child, it is up to municipal governments to internalize the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

UNICEF’s Child-Friendly City Initiative

UNICEF was involved with the drafting of the Convention from early on. In 1996, following a resolution at the second UN Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II), UNICEF launched the ‘Child-Friendly Cities Initiative’. This initiative seeks to bring the Convention into the municipal sphere, making cities liveable places for all, specifically “children first”.

For Métis citizens in the Ottawa area please note this event. Although it is titled a “Youth Forum” everyone is welcome:

YOUTH FORUM
OTTAWA – A UNICEF CHILD FRIENDLY CITY
implementing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
signed by Canada and 192 nations on November 20, 1989
SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 2007
10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Room 359
Fauteux Hall (law school).
57 Louis Pasteur St.
Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 6N5