Accra (Greater Accra) 8th June ?99

This year's national celebration of the Day of the African Child, which falls on Wednesday, June 16, will be held at the Efua Sutherland Children's Park in Accra.

A statement issued in Accra on Monday by the United Nations Information Centre said that more than 1,500 school children and those out of school, including street children, would participate in the programme.

It said the theme for the day is "Children: Agents of Change in the New Millennium - Listen, Learn and Live".

The statement said there would be an educational fair focusing on HIV/AIDS, the Girl-Child and the rights and responsibilities of the child.

United Nations agencies in Ghana, Ghana National Commission on Children, Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare, and the Ghana Education Service will sponsor the celebration.

Other sponsors are Save the Children Fund, Children's Right International, Concerned Parents and Teachers Association, Coalition on the Rights of the Child and International Club of Journalists for Children's Rights.

The day was declared by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) to commemorate the June 16, 1976, massacre of school children in Soweto, South Africa.

Since its first observance in 1991, the day has focussed on the plight of children in Africa and is celebrated world-wide to raise awareness about the potential of the youth and obstacles to their advancement.