19/03/2026
March 20 : World Day of Theatre for Children and Young People
The Message from Sue Giles, President of ASSITEJ International............................
All over the world, our members — those artists and organizations who work in theatre and performance for, with and by children and young people — work hard for recognition of their work and of their audiences. Children and young people under the age of 18 make up approximately 29% of the world’s population and yet this significant number suffer cultural marginalization in most societies, simply because of their age. Children especially, have little power, money or choice and are dependent on the adults around them and those making decisions for them.
This World Day campaign is a key moment to concentrate awareness of the aims of the ASSITEJ at a particular point in time. It is a strong narrative global action that addresses the priority of culture for all children and young people. Most importantly, it leads to a series of local actions that are specific to every context on a specific day — March 20th — all over the world.
This is a moment worth making. Art and culture for, with and by children and young people is an essential part of the broader cultural ecology. It is where young minds and spirits are fostered and fed, discerning audiences are developed, and active cultural participants are given agency.
When it comes to accessing theatre and performance, there is a simple key: adults are the enablers or gatekeepers to the child or young person’s experience. In many places, the child and young person’s right to participate in arts, culture and leisure is not general knowledge and not understood or taken seriously. Their right to self-expression and to have their voices heard is also neglected or ignored.
This is why our world day campaign stresses the importance of STAGING THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD TO ARTS AND CULTURE — making these rights visible, present and immediate, to all adults who can enable access.
How do we do this? In every country in our association, across all of our disciplines, artists and organisations are making theatre and performance — that vital, live, shared, person to person experience which can be powerful and memorable, sometimes for a lifetime. Theatre and performance can ignite and enlarge ideas and offer perspectives that might be new or different. It dares to dive into knotty problems and celebrates the parts of our lives that go unnoticed.
We know that theatre offers a place for imagination and without imagination there cannot be hope. We know that theatre can offer interpretation and without that, the world can be a bewildering place. We know that theatre offers spaces for strangers to engage in ideas together, to enjoy a moment of beauty, fun or wonder and without this the empathy in the world would be less.
By STAGING THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD TO ARTS AND CULTURE, TODAY and EVERYDAY we are making sure that children and young people are included, have access to theatre and performance, have access to big ideas and beauty, to wonderful adventures and magical moments, to invention and surprise — the best and most interesting experiences available and enabled by adults around them.
ASSITEJ International’s work is to promote and unify — making the cultural rights of children and young people a central pillar of engagement across the world. Our work is also to do, to act, to make and create with inspiration and dedication. Through this we can joyfully persuade each and every adult audience member of the need to have theatre and performance available, and accessible for children from the moment they are born and to enlist their commitment to this aim.
By STAGING The RIGHTS OF THE CHILD TO ARTS AND CULTURE on March 20th, we can make a big beautiful moment together. We can send ripples of positivity and optimism to grab the attention of those outside our community — the adults who have children in their care, those who work as educators, those in municipalities, governments, departments, ministries. We can say “take children and young people to the performing arts or take the arts to them, make sure they have access to art made for and with and by them in their nurseries and crèches in their schools and universities.
