- There are many monuments dedicated to child rights acoss the globe.monument image by timur1970 from Fotolia.com
The rights of children are generally defined as all of the things a child is entitled to from birth, like necessities for basic survival, safety and even having a family. There are monuments all over the world dedicated to the different principles of child rights, and many show these concepts in creative and thought-provoking ways. - The death of a young girl named Sadako Sasaki inspired the Children's Peace Monument in Hiroshima, Japan. Exposed to the atomic bombing in Hiroshima in 1945, she developed leukemia in 1954, widely believed to have been caused by her exposure to the bomb's radiation. When she was hospitalized in 1955, visiting friends began to fold paper cranes with her, reminding Sadako of a Japanese saying that folding 1,000 cranes would grant a person one wish. It is unclear whether she completed this goal before her death later that year, but her story spread through the news. In 1958, a large concrete base with a statue of Sadako reaching up for a golden crane above her head was unveiled in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, dedicated to the creation of a safe environment for children everywhere.
- On March 15, 2000, the Children's Millennium Monument was unveiled in the South American Republic of Guyana. The base is a granite hemisphere with a list of things all children are entitled to, such as education and health care. An upside-down letter "L" rises from the center, with a sun partially hidden by the horizontal bottom of the "L" on top. The longer, vertical section of the "L represents the growth and strength of children, while the shorter, horizontal section means a child's unlimited potential. The sun symbolizes child development. Each of the six benches placed around the monument represent one race of Guyana.
- The Worlds Children Peace Monument (WCPM) is in Coe Lake Park in Berea, Ohio. It is a 7-foot tall rectangular structure made of sandstone from the Berea quarries with a "bird of peace" carved into the center of the top. The carving is painted white and has a small opening in the center of the bird's chest. Smaller sandstone carvings of the bird of peace are available for communities to display for peace for all children, and these "peace stones" are counted as part of the original monument in Coe Lake Park.
- In 2006, the Monument to Children's Rights was presented in Riverside Park in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. This monument consists of three large stone slabs surrounded at the bottom by stones from all of the Canadian provinces and territories. Designed by Harold Mueller, a local artist, the monument features an engraving of children at play and quotes from the United Nations' Conventions of the Rights of the Child, which was a series of proclamations regarding the rights of children internationally.
