Today, Brazilian children expect to receive gifts and a lot of celebration, but the date was not always popular. The date – October 12 – coincides with the day on which Catholics celebrate Nossa Senhora Aparecida, patron saint of Brazil.
It was the Decree No. 4,867which established October 12 as the official date for the celebration of the “Children’s Feast Day”.
Immediately, the date did not gain popularity among Brazilians and only gained prominence when entrepreneurs in the toy industry launched an advertising campaign promoting Children’s Week to increase sales. Since then, the date has been celebrated with parties, games and, for those who can win, toys.
World Children’s Day is celebrated on another day – November 20, a date recognized by the United Nations (UN). That day, both the Universal Declaration of the Rights of the Childin 1959, regarding the Convention on the Rights of the Childin 1989.
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the date aims to raise “awareness of the millions of children who are denied their rights to adequate health care, nutrition, education and protection, and to raise the voices of young people as fundamental to any discussion about their future”.
South America
In South America, three countries celebrate the date in August: Argentina and Chile, on the second Sunday of the month, and Peru, on the third Sunday.
In Colombia, the date is celebrated on the second to the last weekend of April; in Venezuela, on the third Sunday of July; in Ecuador on June 1st and in Bolivia on April 12th. Uruguay has January 6th as its official date; but commercially celebrates the date on the second Sunday of August. In Suriname, the date is celebrated on December 5 and in Guyana, on September 9.
