The exhibition was developed by the Norwegian Children’s Museum with the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
highlighting the main rights of children as listed in the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which South Africa is a signatory.
South Africa was the final stop in the exhibition’s 2005 ten-nation tour which has included England, France, Russia, Germany, Denmark, India, China, the USA and Norway
The exhibition is an interactive experience combining pictures, photos, sounds, activities and text.
It is adaptable to local educational programmes, issues and challenges, and is designed to encourage children to paint, sing, discuss, write, wonder, play, act and draw their thoughts about children’s rights and their ideas for implementing these rights.
The Alexandra Children’s library invited children, teachers and parents involved in the community’s crèches and schools to participate and all interested schools were invited to make bookings to attend the exhibition.
The library caters for children from toddlers to young adolescents and offers books and activities throughout the week, encouraging reading activities for children and their families.
Children who participated in the exhibition received an interactive C for Courage Passport with their photograph and a selection of rights from the UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child including the right to
- protection against all discrimination – for race, language, disability or being poor
- guidance from parents and guardians about rights
- attend school
- time to rest and play
- protection against labour, narcotics and cruel punishment
The exhibition was one of several events in a South African programme to commemorate Norway’s 2005 Centennial - the peaceful dissolution in 1905 of the union between Norway and Sweden. South Africa is one of eleven focus countries selected to host a programme of Centennial events in areas such as sport, culture, peace and development. Her Majesty, Queen Sonja of Norway, opened the South African programme at a launch event in Cape Town in February 2005.