Day of Prayer and Action for Children
GNRC Latin America and the Caribbean
2008 Report on the Day of Prayer and Action for the Children by the World's Religions

In 2008, the countries that participated were Brazil, Ecuador, Panama, Venezuela and El Salvador, each country with creative and different means to implement the agreements.

Inter-religious liturgies
El Salvador held an inter-religious liturgy with the participation of 5 Christian denominations including 7 Catholic organizations, Muslins, Bahais, Buddhists, and a Maya Indigenous Tradition. In this liturgy members of Religions for Peace were present. An overview is available in Spanish here. Each tradition presented their own prayers related to children. In Panama, although not in a united liturgy, parallel liturgies to celebrate the Day took place in the Muslin, Jew, Baha'i communities of Panama City and in the Christian Community of Filipillo.

A Prayer for all of Latin America

Prepared by Brazil, a special prayer was distributed throughout Latin America. Recorded in Portuguese by a young girl, it was distributed to 27 Brazilian states to be broadcast on several radio stations. In Sao Paulo, Brazil, two Jewish Communities used the prayer in their Sabbath celebration. The same prayer was made available in video with a slideshow in Spanish by the regional coordination office and distributed to all the countries to be used on November 20. Venezuela broadcasted the prayer on radio Fe y Alegria along with information on the GNRC. Ecuador used the prayer in the form of video at Niños de Maria School. At a regional level, the prayer was distributed by the Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI) through its two Liturgy Networks, in both Spanish and Portuguese. Along with the prayer, CLAI prepared a complete liturgy as a suggestion for distribution in their Portuguese network for the Day of Prayer, available here in PDF format. CLAI's Spanish network sent the prayer to 700 contacts.

Brazil was a leading example of widespread media use, effective coordination with the main religions institutions, use of existing, well-established organizations' structures, and the promotion of concrete actions taking advantage of the Day of Prayer. (Find complete details about the effort in Brazil here.) The prayer was broadcasted in popular radio programs at the national level, via various religious web sites, and in the November issue of the magazine Jornal da Criança with a circulation of 270.000. The prayer was recited with 1.4 million families during the home visits of Pastoral's agents in November. Through Pastoral da Criança, the Bishop's Conference of the Catholic Church (CNBB) gave strong support for the celebration of the Day of Prayer at the national level; other organizations supporting the celebration were the National Council of Churches (CONIC) and CLAI. At the Pastoral's 300 coordination centers, the civil registration of children was promoted during the week as a call to action, thus implementing article 7 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. 

Some cultural events

In Ecuador, in preparation for the Day, the children of 5th and 6th grades of the above mentioned school drew pictures under the theme "I have the right to...", which were displayed on November 20 for all the children in the school. In a similar way, the children of the Baha'i community in Panama worked on pictures and interpreted songs. Among the activities in El Salvador was the exposition "What human rights are for me". The children sang religious and popular songs, and performed dances and a theater piece on the environment.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

The Convention was the most important reference in the celebrations: Ecuador requested the partnership of Defense for Children International to educate the children on the Convention, and the children drew pictures about their rights, and in the main liturgy 54 children presented 54 carnations at the altar, in gratitude for the 54 articles of the Convention. The Baha'i Community in Panama read the Convention Preamble along with the Baha'i prayers. Ecuador and El Salvador used art to learn and illustrate children's rights. In the Jewish community of Panama the Convention was the center of their celebration. In Brazil, the news release sent to media organizations linked the Day of Prayer with the Convention, and the call for action in partnership with the government on article 7 (civil registration of children).

Working toward incorporation into schools

Ecuador concentrated their celebration in a private Catholic school, where nearly 300 children, along with teachers and administrators, participated. In Brazil another Catholic school played the prayer through the school's sound system. In El Salvador the exposition "What are the Rights for me" was done with the participation of several public and religious schools

Some symbols and common situations

The idea of using common symbols and situations was to start to give specific characteristics to the Day of Prayer's celebrations. Lights were used in El Salvador, Ecuador and Panama. In Ecuador all the children received a sticker with the Arigatou logo which also included the image of two children and the words "The Day of Prayer and Action for Children". To some extent all 5 countries gave the children responsibilities, and in El Salvador the children and the youth organized and implemented the event themselves.

The three themes of the GNRC Third Forum -- poverty, violence and the environment -- were also present in all celebrations, especially the theme of poverty in the four celebrations that took place in Panama. El Salvador gave attention to the 3 themes, as well. See more photos here.

Read reports from other world regions here.