Comics illustrate human rights at special children’s museum exhibit

AMMMAN — The Embassy of Belgium in Amman, in cooperation with the United Nations, organised a special event at the Children’s Museum-Jordan in celebration of International Children’s Day on Thursday. 

The event featured an Arabic version of the “Petit Spirou Rights” exhibition, which illustrates the articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights through comics, according to a statement from the museum.

The event was attended by Belgian Ambassador to Jordan Filip Vanden Bulcke, acting UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator and Representative of UN Women in Jordan Ziad Sheikh, Ambassador of the EU Delegation in Jordan Maria Hadjitheodosiou, UNICEF Jordan Representative Tanya Chapuisat, Museum Director Sawsan Dalaq, Representative of the Danish Cooperation Office in Jordan Andreas Thulstrup and a group of students from various schools, according to the statement.

Each guest spoke to the children about one of the 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights illustrated in the exhibition’s comics, in a child-friendly storytelling style.

 “We are pleased to support the UN’s efforts in raising awareness on human rights through this art exhibition and to cooperate with the Children’s Museum to convey such important messages to children and families visiting the museum,” Vanden Bulcke was quoted in the statement as saying.

For his part, Sheikh stressed the importance of empowering children to know their rights and claim them.  “This anniversary created a momentum for the international community, including Jordan, to step up its efforts to help children thrive, and to renew the joint commitment to protect and promote all their human rights,” Sheikh said in the statement.

Dalaq welcomed the guests and expressed her pride in the cooperation, “which reflects the integrated efforts of community-based and humanitarian institutions in Jordan to raise awareness of vital issues affecting the lives of various groups in society”, according to the statement.

The Petit Spirou Exhibition featured at the event was developed by famous artists with support from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and translated into Arabic by the Embassy of Belgium in Jordan. Spirou is the character chosen in 2019 to represent the 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the statement concluded.