Twenty-three Chinese cities, including a section of the Great Wall of China, lit iconic buildings and monuments in blue on Saturday to mark World Children's Day.

The celebration, hosted by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), was livestreamed due to COVID-19 and called on society as a whole to unite for girls' and boys' rights to health, education, protection and participation.

"We unite on this World Children's Day to recognize progress made for children and to commit to doing even more to realize the rights of every child," said Cynthia McCaffrey, UNICEF representative to China.

During the livestreamed event, two new UNICEF Youth Advocates were announced: 20-year-old Zhao Chen, who has a visual impairment and has been advocating for digital accessibility and inclusion for children and young people who have disabilities, and 19-year-old Yu Xinwei, an advocate for adolescent mental health.

UNICEF and Xinhua News Agency co-launched an interactive feature through their respective digital platforms to amplify children's voices and aspirations for a better future.

World Children's Day was first established in 1954 as Universal Children's Day and is celebrated on November 20 each year to mark the anniversary of the UN General Assembly's adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. 

The theme for 2021 is "A Better Future for Every Child."

Read more:

World Children's Day: Reimagining a better future for every child

(With input from Xinhua)