The Vatican’s first World Summit on Children’s Rights is a timely and noble initiative

On February 3, 2025, the Vatican hosted the first World Summit on Children’s Rights gathering panelists advocating for children’s rights, including Her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan. This initiative can be viewed as a timely and noble step designed to clearly shed light on the children’s rights at a time when such rights have been marginalized in various countries in the world under the pressure of wars, violence, economic instability and rampant corruption.

This summit has sounded the alarm bell at the growing challenges millions of children face on daily bases as a study by the United Nations Children’s Fund reports that “the world is entering a new era of crisis for children; climate change, inequality and conflict are disrupting their lives and limiting their futures.”

While arguing that all children and young people have the right to education at a time when about 250 million children lack access to school because of war, migration and poverty, His Holiness Pope Francis reiterated an alarming statement in prayer intention for January 2025 saying, “Today, we are experiencing an educational catastrophe.”

Actually, among the most impressive needs, among others, is education since  educations refines the characters of children and opens before them new eras for a bright future, since an educated nation is the genuine wealth needed to help its stand tall in various aspects of life.

During the summit meetings, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah called for the universal and unconditional application of children’s rights, urging the world to reject "a status quo that deems some children’s suffering acceptable, based on their name, faith, or the land of their birth." Stressing  that one in six children on Earth now live in areas affected by conflict, where dozens are killed or maimed each day, Queen Rania decried scenes of children’s suffering that have been broadcast worldwide on news outlets and social media, and urged the global community to uphold its promise of "every right, for every child."

On the other hand, Pope Francis highlighted the ongoing struggles faced by children worldwide and emphasized that despite global progress, many children still suffer from poverty, war, lack of education, injustice, and exploitation. The Pope drew attention to the particularly dire conditions of children in war-torn and impoverished regions, but also stressed that even in wealthier societies, children face vulnerabilities such as mental health struggles, violence, and social marginalization.

With shocking figures that over 40 million children displaced by conflict and 100 million homeless, Pope Francis  urged world leaders to listen to children, not only through their words but also through their silences, expressions, and experiences as well as “with their looks and their silences, too, they speak to us, so let us listen to them.”

In concomitance with hope that this summit would that upholds the children’s rights, and their dreams at the center of global concerns, the Pope noted his intention to write an apostolic exhortation dedicated to children to "give continuity to this commitment and promote it throughout the Church."

This summit has left no stone unturned with regards to the urgent need to undertake unimpeded efforts designed to eliminate the suffering inflicted  on children as a result of the hard conditions experienced in their respective countries. From this premise, it is the duty of world leaders and decision-makers to take necessary measures to provide the panacea that restores to the children their legitimate rights.

It is also of prime importance to revert to the Holy Bible with reference to children which states, “But Jesus called them to him, saying, ‘Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God’.” (Luke 18:16) and “All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children.” (Isaiah 54:13)