Marie-Henriette Salembere, Country Director delivering speech to all participants.

The Day of the African Child is recognized around the world on June 16th as an opportunity to honour the memory of the children who, in 1976, were brutally shot down while marching in the streets of Soweto, South Africa to protest the inferior quality of their education.

The theme for this year's memorial event in Burkina Faso was, “Right to Participation: Let Children be Seen and Heard”.

Those in attendance included CCFC Country Director Marie-Henriette Salembere, CCFC program staff, sponsored children, local media, the First Lady of Burkina Faso, Mrs. Chantal Compaoré; the wife of the Prime Minister, Priscille Zongo; the wife of the President of Parliament, Sika Kaboré; the Minister of social affairs, Pascaline Tamini; the Governor of Plateau Central, Ruth Yaméogo; members of other NGO's and many more. In total an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 attended the event.

Marie-Henriette Salembere, CCFC country director for Burkina Faso was chosen to deliver the first speech of the day, where she asked all NGOs to join forces and work towards a single goal of giving children the tools to succeed. Giving children in the developing world a voice and encouraging all NGO's to defend and protect children's rights.

A CCFC exhibit displayed some of the wonderful work CCFC is doing in Burkina Faso. Events for the day included games for children and parents, a football match and much more.

All in all the event was a great success in developing relationships with important government officials and the opportunity to work side by side with other NGO's.