Right To Play and partners secure a new U.N.-designated International Day of Play
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An annual celebration of the power of play
On March 25, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution to create a new International Day of Play, with more than 140 countries as co-sponsors. The annual International Day of Play will take place on June 11 every year, beginning in 2024.
The announcement is the culmination of a large, global effort led by a coalition of organizations of which Right To Play was a founding member. The goal was to spotlight the importance of play in children’s lives, learning, and development, and to call attention to the need to protect and support children’s right to play.
Together, partners around the world will engage millions of children, parents, teachers, and decision-makers around the globe on June 11 to celebrate the power of play.
Playing for impact
Global research surveying more than 25,000 children across 36 countries reveals that as many as 73% of children don’t believe adults take play – and how it can help them learn – seriously.
For close to 25 years, Right To Play has been a global leader in play-based learning and using play to protect, educate, and empower children. We reach millions of children each year in some of the most difficult places on earth, helping them to stay in school and graduate, resist exploitation, overcome prejudice, prevent disease, and heal from the trauma of war and displacement. We do this by harnessing play, one of the most fundamental forces in a child's life, to teach children the critical skills they need to dismantle barriers and embrace opportunities, in learning and in life.
“Play is powerful. Through play, children explore and understand the world, learn how to collaborate and empathize with others, build the confidence to claim their rights, and develop a lifelong love of learning,” says Susan McIsaac, President & CEO of Right To Play International. “For close to 25 years, Right To Play has harnessed the power of play to protect, educate, and empower millions of children each year to rise above adversity. We are proud to be one of the founding members of the International Day of Play, working with partners to give global legitimacy to what children have always known: that play is a transformative force in their lives, and that every child should have the right to play.”
The campaign for an International Day of Play was initiated by the LEGO Group and the LEGO Foundation in partnership with Right To Play, ADEA, Arup, BRAC, Change X, Concerned for Working Children, Eurochild, Hasbro, INGKA, International Play Association, IRC, KidZania, Mattel, NIKE, inc., PEDAL, Plan International, Save the Children and Sesame Workshop. The campaign was led by a Core Group of U.N. Member States – Vietnam, El Salvador, Bulgaria, Jamaica, Kenya and Luxembourg – that worked to mobilise support for the resolution within their region.
The adoption of a U.N. resolution for a day centered around play creates a unifying moment at the global, national, and local levels to elevate the importance of play as central to children’s learning and wellbeing – ensuring time to play, space to play and support for quality play is prioritized.
We are proud to be one of the founding members of the International Day of Play, working with partners to give global legitimacy to what children have always known: that play is a transformative force in their lives, and that every child should have the right to play.” – Susan McIsaac, CEO, Right To Play