For this day, the State Coordination of Salesian Social Platforms, through the organisations that are part of it, once again focuses the awareness and information campaign on the violation of the rights of minors, with particular attention to the situation of migrant children "From dreams to reality".
To carry out this campaign, the daily situations that violate the rights of children and adolescents who have left specific assistance programs, collected by the State Coordination of Salesian Social Platforms’ Observatory on Migration through the "Let me tell you" program, were analysed. In 2022, Salesian social platforms provided support to 9,336 children and adolescents through 158 projects, and thanks to the intervention of 758 professionals and 313 volunteers.
This analysis identified the main violations of children’s rights, such as, for example, lack of protection, links and safe environments, limited freedom of expression, lack of decent housing and access to healthy food. All more frequent and more serious violations in the case of migrant children.
Another initiative of the State Coordination of Salesian Social Platforms is the Second Day of Online Participation, organised by the Child Protection Systems (SdPI) team for Monday, 20 November at 5:00 pm (UTC+2). This offers an opportunity for participation for children of the Innovation Programme for the Prevention of Institutionalisation in Children. The aim is to enable them to work on issues related to good treatment and to claim their rights. The online meeting will involve primary school children and will take place through the "Gather Town" platform, where participants will have to create an avatar and cross the virtual environment through different rooms and workspaces, interacting and sharing opinions with other children.
On Friday 10 November, on the other hand, more than 300 people reflected on children's rights at the "CaixaForum" in Valencia, with the involvement of the Salesian Ángel Tomás Foundation (FISAT). On the occasion, several heads of educational interventions, public administration and third sector bodies spoke of the importance of addressing the challenges of children, in particular those accepted into protection systems, because responding to their needs is the most effective way to guarantee their rights.
Among other Salesian initiatives, the beneficiaries of the children's programs of the JuanSoñador Foundation in La Coruña will create an awareness campaign on the subject, a motto and a symbolic protest, which will take the form of a mural.
As part of the "Growing and dreaming" project of the JuanSoñador Social Platform in Oviedo, three actions were proposed: participation in the drawing competition on children’s rights that takes place in the city this month, the creation, on 20 November, of bookmarks with motifs related to children's rights, and a major event of the "Word of mouth" game on this theme.
For its part, the Pinardi Federation, which brings together the Salesian Social Platforms in Madrid, is working on two lines: the formation of educators through the sharing of elements that help create safe environments within the framework of the Child Protection System and the various laws on the subject; and some initiatives to give voice to boys and girls from 6 to 18 years of age, encouraging their participation in the proposal activities and creating spaces dedicated to sharing their opinions and points of view.
Furthermore, the Confederation of Don Bosco Youth Centres insists on the need for free and educational time as a tool for social reconstruction, and during 2022, it focused its projects on the theme of mental health. For this reason, the last Forum on child and youth participation in November revolved around this theme and this week the Confederation launches some testimonies on social networks collected during that day, with several young people telling what they learned in the forum around the slogan "Give a like to mental health".
Finally, Salesian schools are also carrying out various activities related to the rights of children and adolescents: from reading the declaration of their rights to recreational, sports, dance or theatre activities, there are many programs developed in Salesian educational centres to raise awareness among young and old about these issues.
