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| Ute Deseniss-Gros (middle) attending the inauguration of the Human-Rights and Child-Rights Path |
It was the first visible sign of an idea that began in 2015, when the overwhelming influx of migrants to Germany and Europe increased hostilities between people and it became necessary to raise awareness of human rights and children's rights and their importance for daily life. A think tank of local leaders from all parties and professions developed ideas for dialogue groups, language courses, integration workshops and many other initiatives to give residents a permanent visible sign and to make them aware of children's and human rights everywhere in the city. The UN World Children's Day on November 20, which falls on September 20 in Germany, was always celebrated with this focus. Support also came from members of the German UNICEF committee, who publicly asked for anchoring children's rights in the constitution of Germany.
Highlights were the conferences attended by retired UN Diplomat Hans-Christof Graf von Sponeck and UNHCR member Dominik Bartsch, who informed students of the lycées in Lörrach about the issues related to migration, Children's Rights and Human Rights.These interventions gave a strong push and the idea of the human and children’s rights path through Lörrach could no longer be stopped.
On the 30. September 2024 this great path was completed and officially inaugurated. It is the first of its kind in Germany.
Since I had participated in the first event, and since I am still very much in touch with the Lörrach UNICEF Group even after my move to Berlin three years ago, I accepted their kind invitation to attend the official opening.
Since its inception eight years ago, a committed movement has developed. The path is now considered an achievement to which almost every resident of Lörrach has contributed in one way or another. Over the years, the volunteer UNICEF group led the process with numerous activities. The focus was always on raising awareness of the need to apply Child Rights in our daily lives, no matter who we are and where we come from. The UNICEF group called for demonstrations by children and young people and held weeks for friendship to overcome hate. Street painting exhibitions on the topic of children's rights were held, in addition there were regular conferences on children's rights in schools for students and parents by the local heads of UNICEF and Amnesty, the children's book fair organized readings by authors who emphasized children's rights in their stories. As information about the topic increased, interest grew and more and more sympathizers joined.
The local administration was concerned that the path would incur costs that it would have to bear itself. Interestingly, the path only costs the production of the signs, at 60 € each. The costs were borne by the recipient of the signs. Designer Annette Zollinger, a member of the UNICEF group, developed the layout of the sign, which includes the dove of freedom from the official city flag of Lörrach.
The real work, however, was to discuss with the responsible persons or entities who wanted or were eligible for a sign in front of their institution, to make them aware of their role as representatives of this specific right. The UNICEF youth group was very helpful in this process, as they convincingly presented their point of view during the discussion. Each installation of a new sign was celebrated with a small ceremony in the presence of the local press, a representative of the authorities and members of the UNICEF and Amnesty groups.
The official opening of the path in the evening on September 30, 2024 was an absolute highlight in Lörrach. It took place in the huge auditorium of the Hebel-Gymnasium. The decoration was done by the UNICEF youth group. During the introductory concert, Dvorak, No. 12 in F major, by the American Quartet, the many stations of the path in Lörrach could be followed on the screen.
In their respective welcoming speeches, Mrs.Christine Langen from the local UNICEF group and Mrs. Ulrike Schaefer, the local head of Amnesty International underlined the character and development of this important project: The path becomes the destination.
Christian Schneider, the head of UNICEF Germany, was the evening's key note speaker. He congratulated the UNICEF group in Lörrach on their determination and exemplary preparation of the child rights process, which has given other communities the impetus to follow this example. UNICEF Lörrach always makes a significant financial contribution to the work of UNICEF worldwide, and Schneider thanked them for this. He referred to his excursion to Madagascar, from which he had only returned the evening before and where these funds are urgently needed, as the majority of children there still do not even have the most basic children's rights such as adequate food and schooling.
In his speech, Wassily Nemitz, Head of Amnesty International Germany, congratulated to the success of the Rath of Rights and stressed the importance of applying Human Rights and Child Rights always and everywhere, with particular reference to the controversial migration situation that we are currently facing in Germany.
When he was elected in 2018, the Mayor was rather reserved and neutral. Over time, he has changed his mind. In his speech, he praised UNICEF and Amnesty and expressed the wish that Lörrach would now also become a “child-friendly city”.
After the very official opening of the celebration, the celebratory part followed with contributions from the children's and UNICEF youth groups. The extraordinary performance of the children's choir is worth mentioning. The children moved the audience with the children's rights song that Abelia Nordmann had composed for this choir. The choir then sang the wonderful song by Udo Lindenberg "Come, let's go to peace". The choir was accompanied by 20 years old Dimitry Lvovich whose voice gave us goosebumps.
The group leaders' speeches followed. Donat Miftari, who incidentally had been elected spokesperson for all German UNICEF youth groups and junior teams, received great applause. In his overview of the participatory development of the path, he expressed his pride that the youth group had been involved in this process from the very beginning. He also spoke about some of the difficulties they faced during the preparation of the path, for example, convincing the police authorities and school administration to take responsibility for their respective children's rights.
More musical presentations followed that turned the auditorium into a concert hall. Stella Langen joined and everyone sang „Imagine“.
In their closing remarks, Ulrike Schäfer and Christine Langen emphasized that the application of human and children's rights has never been as important as it is today, as they are so neglected in global crises. Their respect in our daily lives is the foundation of our democracies. The celebration ended with Steffi Lais and Dimitri singing "We are the world, we are the people" with joy and conviction, which brought tears to many people's faces.
Let us apply the African proverb in our daily lives: Many small steps in many places will change the face of the world.
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