A new text dedicated to children, a letter or an exhortation
In addition, a document signed by all participants at the summit on children's rights outlined eight commitments in favour of the little ones.
A new text dedicated to children, a letter or an exhortation. This was announced yesterday by Pope Francis on the sidelines of the world summit entitled ‘Let's love and protect them’, organised by the Pontifical Committee for World Children's Day. In addition, a document signed by all participants at the summit on children's rights outlined eight commitments in favour of the little ones.
After opening the proceedings in the morning, in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace the Holy Father returned to speak in the afternoon, at the end of the seven panels attended by some fifty world leaders. ‘Thanks to your presence, the halls of the Apostolic Palace have become an ‘observatory’ on the reality of childhood in the world, a reality unfortunately often marked by injury, exploitation and deprivation. Your experience and compassion have given rise to a ‘laboratory’ where proposals have been drawn up to protect the rights of children, treating them not as numbers, but as faces. All this is glory to God, and we entrust this endeavour to Him so that His Spirit may make it fruitful,’ said the Pope, who then recalled the words of Father Faltas: “The children are watching us”, emphasising the importance of the example we offer them.
It was Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan who opened the first panel of the World Summit on the Rights of the Child.
‘If a right can be deliberately denied, then it has never been a right but a privilege reserved for the fortunate few,’ the Queen began, quoting data from a “disturbing study” on the psychological state of children in Gaza: ’96% reported feeling death as imminent, almost half said they wanted to die. They don't want to be astronauts or firemen, like other children, but they would like to be dead'. Today, he added, ‘one in six children live in an area of conflict’, immersed in ‘nightmares in broad daylight’, yet every child has the same right to our protection and care ‘without exception, exclusion or preconditions’, ‘whether they have lost two front teeth or are missing a limb due to war wounds’. He cited Palestine, Sudan, Yemen, Myanmar and what he called the ‘dehumanisation of children’ that ‘digs chasms into our compassion and stifles urgency in favour of complacency’.
A letter from the children addressed to the Pope expressing gratitude for Francis' commitment to their future was also read out during the summit. The children wrote: ‘We want to thank you because you care for us and for our future. Thank you for listening to our questions and answering them carefully, as you did during the World Children's Day'. They then spoke of their dreams for a better world, without wars or inequalities, where everyone can grow up peaceful, study, play and live in peace. ‘We would like a cleaner world, without pollution that destroys nature and kills animals. We realised that it is more important to save the Earth than to accumulate wealth,’ they wrote. The children concluded with a message of hope: ‘We want to help you build a beautiful future for everyone. Is it difficult? But if you help us, it gets easier!’
Antonio Tajani, deputy prime minister and foreign minister of the Italian government, also spoke of the ‘innocent victims of the grown-ups’, announcing that 30 Palestinian children suffering from cancer reported by Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa and the Pope John XXIII Centre will be brought to Italy. He then recalled the Israeli children who were attacked and killed during the Hamas assault on 7 October 2023 and those who are still being held hostage in the Gaza Strip. He also emphasised the importance of fostering the birth rate and working women, promoting vaccinations in Africa and countering sex tourism in Asia. Finally, he called for the Mare Nostrum to become a sea of peace, ‘not a cemetery of innocents’ and renewed his commitment to the approval of ius scholae.
Gambia's Foreign Minister, Mamadou Tangara, praised ‘the potential of the meeting: the more we talk, the more we understand each other and emphasise the things that unite us most’. Megawati Sukarnoputri, former President of the Republic of Indonesia, spoke of the difficulty in fulfilling children's rights, which is an adult responsibility influenced by climate crises, ecological disasters and the digital divide, all of which impact on access to education, health and food. He also referred to the Indonesian Pancasila philosophy, stating that ‘Humanity, equality and justice allow children to dream without limits’. He also recalled President Sukarno's suggestion to young people: ‘Hang your dreams as high as the sky, if you fall, you will fall among the stars’.
Senator for life Liliana Segre concluded the first panel by sharing her experience as a child deported and survivor of the Shoah: ‘Children, all of them, are a sacred thing and must not be touched for any reason,’ she stated firmly. After mentioning ‘the millions of exploited minors, who live in conditions of extreme poverty, under the bombs of too many wars’, Segre recounted how in her life she has chosen to renounce revenge and rancour, preferring testimony ‘to remember how much violence humanity is capable of’. The senator then hoped that the stories of pain and injustice of children in the world would be preserved ‘their significance as a universal event’ without partisanship.
The second panel, on children's right to resources, featured Mario Draghi as the first speaker. The former president of the European Central Bank emphasised the importance of building educational paths that give ‘authenticity’ to children's participation, allowing them to ‘unleash their potential, without anticipating their being adults’. He added that protecting children means being ready to change our attitudes and ‘the criteria for collective choices’. The inclusion of children in decision-making processes is, according to Draghi, ‘a complex task’ that requires ‘wisdom and educational passion’ but also a horizon of ‘good’ as a goal.
Paolo Gentiloni spoke of an investment in children as an ‘investment in the future’, denouncing that in the world 300 million children live on less than $2.15 a day and in Europe 1 in 5 children live in poverty. He added that in the most exposed countries, where debt sustainability is most at risk, ‘it impacts 400 million children’. Investing in children is not only an ‘imperative’ dictated by ‘love, compassion and hope’ but also an ‘economic and social opportunity’. Gentiloni concluded by saying that Unicef proposes to forgive the debt to those who allocate the saved resources to education, health and social services for children.
Nokuzola Tolashe, South Africa's Minister of Social Development, announced that the Summit content would be shared at the next G20 Summit, expressing her support for the launch of the debt relief campaign in 160 countries as part of Jubilee 2025. He emphasised that the South African G20 Presidency, under the theme of solidarity, equality and sustainability, aims to make the voices of the most vulnerable people in society in the global South, most of whom are children, heard. Arif Husain, chief economist of the World Food Program, insisted on the need to ‘end conflict’, ‘invest in women and children and in local infrastructure’, recalling that every day ‘700 million people go to bed without eating; 150 million children are too short for their age and 50 million are malnourished’.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino introduced the topic of the right to education with a smile, placing a ball on the speakers' table. ‘Children do it too, every time they see a ball,’ he explained, presenting Football for School, a programme that uses football to raise awareness among children on issues such as violence and discrimination against women. Infantino promised the presence of great footballers at the second World Children's Day, scheduled for 27 and 28 September 2026.
Miguel Benasayag, a philosopher and psychoanalyst, discussed the need for a school that ‘resists algorithmic colonisation’, worrying about changes to the human brain due to the use of technology. He stressed the importance of establishing a balance between humans and machines.
Marco Impagliazzo, president of the Community of Sant'Egidio, appealed to the international community to rediscover ‘united tension’ to guarantee education for all, defining education as a ‘right that changes the world’. He urged breaking the vicious cycle of illiteracy and school dropout, not only in the peripheries of the planet, but also in advanced countries, where young people are more fragile and anxious. Rabbi David Rosen also recalled the importance of education in the Jewish tradition, which requires respect for childhood, with special attention to orphans and the poor, so that otherwise unknown talents can emerge.
The second part of the summit focused on the experiential dimension of the right to food and health. The morning ended with a focus on the primary role of the family. Mariella Enoc, from the Council of Patrons of Children's Hospitals, highlighted a great contradiction: on the one hand we talk about children without families, on the other about families who do not want to bring children into the world, conditioned by a culture and politics that exalt selfishness. ‘The great task is then to educate adults,’ he suggested, “and make a great, extraordinary, intergenerational alliance”. Because the danger is individualism and isolation, as Hans Michael Jebsen of the China-Italy Philanthropic Forum made clear. In times when children are forced to grow up too fast, rediscovering the values of the pancasila, the philosophical thought behind the Indonesian state, already mentioned in the opening, can be a way forward, suggested Arsjad Rasjid, co-founder of the 5P movement, to prevent the exploitation of children in conflict areas. The last note was on nutrition for all: this was proposed by Federico Vecchioni, CEO of the largest agricultural company in Italy, BF, which is investing one and a half million euro in companies that put local populations at the centre, because ‘producing food is the basis for a healthy childhood’.
The afternoon sessions followed the morning's round tables, which saw the intervention of Pope Francis, who stressed the importance of giving the youngest a voice, to protect their rights from wars, violence and injustice.
One of the issues at the centre of the debate was the child's right to free time, an essential element in fostering creativity and personal development. As Pope Francis stated, play and carefreeness represent a ‘most precious gift’ that helps children grow ‘in creativity and working together’. Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St. Peter's Basilica, emphasised how free time allows the youngest children to become aware of their dignity, avoiding turning them into ‘objects’ that have to meet the needs and expectations of the adult world.
The president of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, cited initiatives such as the Olympic Values Education Programme, which integrates sports activities in the schools of 60 million children in over 60 countries, emphasising how sport can represent a ‘force for good’ for young people. Father Paolo Benanti also reflected on the digital aspect of leisure, warning against the dangers of excessive use of screens and data manipulation through algorithms.
Marek Michalak, president of the Order of the Smile, addressed the contrast between the need to recreate moments of leisure and the ‘culture of haste’, which pushes children to meet the same demands for productivity as the adult world. China, through Qinghong Wang, introduced measures to protect children's leisure time, such as banning online video games from 10pm to 8am and restricting the use of screens for children under 16.
The second panel of the Summit addressed the dramatic problem of child labour, which involves over 160 million children worldwide. Pope Francis denounced how, in our century that ‘generates artificial intelligence and designs multi-planetary existences’, we continue to tolerate the existence of this scourge. Cardinal Fabio Baggio introduced the topic, highlighting the need to guarantee all children access to education and social protection so that families are not forced to make their children work.
Philippe Vanhuynegem, from the International Labour Organisation (ILO), referred to the case of Jean-François, a Congolese boy forced to work in the mines, as an example of the exploitative condition that afflicts millions of children worldwide.
The protection of children from armed conflicts and the devastation caused by climate change was another of the issues raised during the Summit. Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime recalled that more than 300,000 children are involved in armed conflicts, with serious psychological and physical consequences. ‘They are the first victims,’ he stressed, denouncing the responsibility of adults in putting weapons in the hands of the youngest.
Al Gore, former Vice President of the United States and Nobel Peace Prize winner, spoke of the growing threat of climate change, which disproportionately affects the poorest and most vulnerable. He also emphasised how ‘political will’ is a key resource for restoring hope to new generations, citing the encyclical Laudato si'.
The Summit speeches emphasised the urgency of taking concrete measures to protect children's rights, tackling with determination issues such as child labour, online exploitation, loss of freedom due to the culture of haste and violence linked to conflicts and climate change. A commitment that, as underlined by Nobel Peace Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi, cannot be based only on ‘kind words’, but must be translated into urgent and compassionate action to guarantee a better future for the youngest. The Summit therefore launched a global appeal for the protection of children to become a priority for all, with no more postponing the urgency of giving them a fairer and safer world.
Father Ibrahim Faltas, vicar of the Custody of the Holy Land, brought his testimony from Palestine, devastated by sixteen months of war. He stressed that ‘peace is the fundamental right of children’, expressing concern for the terrible psychological and physical consequences that this war has left on the youngest. ‘In Gaza, children have suffered hunger, thirst, and lack of care and education,’ he said, also lamenting that many of them have not been able to go to school for the past two years.
ildren have the power to open the hearts of adults and, through this, to change the world’.
