Martins Ifijeh
Over 200 prominent writers including novelists, playwrights and poets, have joined a global literary campaign this week, penning ‘tiny stories’ of around seven lines each to highlight Universal Children’s Day and the injustice many of the world’s poorest and most disadvantaged children still face.
The short story series, which kicks off the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) commemoration of its 70th year working to bring help and hope to children around the world.
According to UNICEF’s the short stories will be shared by some of the world’s most celebrated writers with their own social media audiences.
The First Lady of Finland, Jenni Haukio, introduced the concept, which has gained global momentum with writers joining from Asia, Africa, South America, Europe, the Middle East and Australia.
“As writers, we are able to advocate through the simplicity of storytelling. With this worthy and necessary campaign, we advocate for the protection of the rights of precious children all over the world,” said celebrated Nigerian author Chimamanda Adichie.
The group of writers, whose genres range from fairy tales to fiction, include one of the world’s youngest published authors, seven-year-old South African, Michelle Nkamankeng. Written in over 10 languages and varying in style, all stories illustrate that the rights of many children are still neglected.
The campaign comes at a time when there are increasing threats to child rights. Over 50 million children have been uprooted from their homes due to conflict, poverty and climate change and millions more are facing unspeakable violence in their communities. Around 263 million children are out of school and last year, nearly six million children under five died from mostly preventable diseases across the globe.
“It is shocking to see that the lives of many children are still so heavily impacted by the horror of conflict, inequality, poverty and discrimination. I hope these Tiny Stories can remind the world that we must sustain our commitment to all of these children whose lives and futures are at stake,” said Paloma Escudero, UNICEF Spokesperson.
