November 20 marks World Children’s Day. Vivendi’s various companies are fully committed to ensuring that children’s voices are heard. They are engaged all year round via a number of initiatives, according to the specificities of each profession.
Universal Music Group supports many local and worldwide initiatives that have a direct impact on children and their well-being. In addition to donations and long-term projects involving artists to raise funds for “Save the Children”, in response to the pandemic, UMG has launched new projects all over the world in 2020, namely in South Africa, India, Great Britain and the United States.
Television also has a role to play in raising public awareness about children’s rights issues. At Planète+ (Canal+), our compelling, poignant, and thought-provoking documentaries demonstrate our commitment. “Healing Hearts”, which recounts the daily life of caregivers in a specialized hospital complex near Jerusalem, and “Terrains mineurs”, in which viewers are plunged into the Juvenile Court of the Paris District Court, are two documentaries which will be broadcast by the channel in December.
At Havas, we can provide two examples of initiatives taken in France.
In India, Havas played a leading role in Vivendi’s partnership with Unicef to support My Earth Concert for Kids in June 2020, an initiative by Indian-American songwriter Ricky Kej to raise awareness about environmental issues among children around the world.
In 2017, Unicef and Vivendi announced a unique partnership with the iconic bear Paddington (Copyrights Group/Vivendi Village) to help promote the rights of children around the world. Paddington’s kindness, tolerance and perseverance make him the perfect champion for children at Unicef. Various initiatives have been rolled out.
Published by Télémaque (Editis), “1 sur 5” (1 in 5) is a manifesto against child abuse in France, written by journalists Karl Zéro and Serge Garde and the founder of the charity “Innocence in Danger”, Homayra Sellier. This “petition book” proposes 25 specific measures to bring about real change. The authors have ceded all their rights to the charity Innocence in Danger. It will be released on December 3, 2020, at a retail price of 5 euros.
