Around the globe, 30,500 children die each day from largely preventable diseases; 200 million remain malnourished; another 1.2 million are living with HIV; more than 11 million have been orphaned by AIDS; and 130 million school-age children -- over two-thirds of them girls -- are deprived of the right to education. According to U.N. estimates, there are also 250,000 to 300,000 child soldiers worldwide.

The U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child provides a universal framework for protecting and realising children's rights. People of faith have joined together as the Global Network of Religions for Children (GNRC) to do their part. In May 2008 an international Forum in Hiroshima focused on three themes: promoting ethics education to stop violence against children; putting children first in human development; and empowering children through ethics education to protect our planet.