Children Worldwide to Hold General Assembly in Denmark at Same Time as UN General Assembly in New York

The first ever Children’s General Assembly launches debates worldwide to challenge political thinking; all children are invited to participate and to put forward their ideas to create a better future.

This September 2021 (from 19th to 21st) will see the UN’s annual General Assembly gathering in New York. Ambassadors from around the world - experienced politicians - will meet to debate and decide on key issues that will influence world policies and thinking for decades to come. 

But what about the youth of today, who will have to live with the results of these debates in the years to come? What about the fresh and vibrant ideas that the young people of the world have, and care about? What about their concerns and their passion for the world that they will inherit? 

This year, the Children’s General Assembly will be held in Billund, Denmark, from 19th to 21st September, to allow children worldwide the chance to put forward their views. 

Says Dicte Ø. Christensen (aged 13), from Billund, Denmark: “The UN’s leaders meet to discuss the future, but the future belongs to us.  With the Children’s Assembly, we will now have the opportunity to be at the table, and to offer our ideas and solutions about how to better this world.”

The children of the world are keen to discuss their approach to solving the world’s most critical issues - problems including global warming, increasing carbon emissions, plastic in the world’s oceans and in the food we eat, loss of wildlife habitat and of our ancient forests, which absorb carbon and help to control extreme weather.  Inequality worldwide has been made worse by the pandemic and by wars; refugees suffer from starvation, serious injury and homelessness.

The goal of the first Children’s General Assembly, hosted by Billund, in Denmark, from 19th to 21st September, is to present the UN with a united voice from children around the world. Known as The Capital of Children, Billund has always taken children seriously, in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

All children from around the world, regardless of religion, gender or nationality, are invited by Dicte to sign up and join the Children’s General Assembly, to present and debate their ideas. Children will collaborate across various regions of the world and draft a shared manifesto. Their views will be taken by their representatives to Billund for the Children’s General Assembly in September 2021. The joint speech and resolutions will be presented at the Children’s General Assembly in Billund, voted on, finalised, and then delivered to UN delegates in New York. 

Register for the event here.