Over 100 children and youth celebrated World Children’s Day (WCD) on Sunday at a special event at State House hosted by First Lady of Guyana, Arya Ali, in collaboration with UNICEF. Under the theme ‘Inclusion, for every child’, Guyana joined global WCD celebrations by transforming State House into a safe space for children and other youth who were invited to creatively express their feelings through art.
A press release from UNICEF said that Deputy Representative, Irfan Akhtar, took the opportunity to recognize young people who were courageously sharing their stories and thanked the First Lady for being a champion for young people and recognizing the importance of mental health. The WCD event, ‘Art therapy for mental health’, focused on mental health and participants included students, children with disabilities, migrant children, youth advocates, and other youth including UNICEF volunteers who provided support to the children. One child expressed his delight by saying, “The event was very great. I got to go and say a poem. It was very nice, I can’t believe I got to…the art pieces were beautiful, they all did a wonderful job…[It’s] something that I would want to go back and do again,” said 11-year-old Neerav Persaud, who recited a poem, ‘Rising’, to the assembled children and dignitaries. The poem celebrates survival and not giving up despite challenges.