RIYADH: Dr. Abdul Aziz Bin Mohieddin Khoja, Minister of Culture and Information, inaugurated a five-day festival Sunday at King Fahd Culture Center (KFCC) in Riyadh to mark Universal Children's Day. In his inaugural speech, the minister stressed the significance of raising children based on Islamic values and Arab culture. A number of officials and other invited dignitaries and guests attended the opening ceremony, along with children from Saudi and international schools. The Ministry of Culture and Information has licensed a television channel that is operating with content of interest to children, Khoja said referring to Ajyal TV Channel for children. “My ministry has directly or indirectly engaged in serving the interests of children,” he added. The minister said that organizing events such as children's festivals reflected the Kingdom's policy of taking the utmost care of children and demonstrated King Abdullah's directives in this regard. The minister took a tour of the exhibition running on the sidelines of the festival and later attended stage performances presented by schoolchildren in the KFCC theaters.? A number of publishing houses, writers and journalists are participating in the event, and as part of cultural activities at the festival, schoolchildren will present dramas, stage and puppet shows. The five-day festival will be open for visitors between 5 P.M. and 10:30 P.M. The UNICEF Office in Riyadh announced that it will distribute copies of reports on child rights at the festival. The children will receive stories and other material that is of interest to them, a UNICEF official said. The UN General Assembly on December 14, 1954 by resolution recommended that all countries institute a Universal Children's Day, to be observed as a day of worldwide fraternity and understanding between children. It recommended that the day was to be observed also as a day of activity devoted to promoting the ideals and objectives of the Charter and the welfare of the children of the world. The Assembly suggested to governments that the day be observed on the date and in the way, which each considers appropriate. November 20 marks the day on which the Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959, and the Convention on the Child, in 1989.
