Every year, the Day of the African Child is celebrated on 16th June. This annual event is held across the globe to honour the memories of students who were massacred in Soweto, South Africa, in 1976 for protesting against education injustice and inequality in the apartheid regime. It was designated as Day of the African Child in 1991 by the African Union and every year events are organised to promote children’s rights. Thirty million of the world’s 57 million children out of school are in sub-Saharan Africa.

Day of the African Child 2026

Every summer term, OWL runs a special Day of the African Child (DAC) event at one of its 15 link schools in Warwick District. On 5th June 2026, to mark the 10-year anniversary of St Margaret’s School’s OWL link with BDEC Messima School as well as the 45th anniversary of One World Link as an organisation, St Margaret’s CE Junior School hosted the event. Thank you to Mrs Atkins who organised the day with Mrs Liz Garrett from One World Link.

We welcomed children from all the local Warwick District link schools, which meant that over 800 children were onsite to experience the day. It was a fabulous day of celebration, fun and excitement as the children experienced a range of activities on an African theme. These included African drumming, art, sports, storytelling, African dancing and singing songs.

Some of our Year 6 children delivered a powerful speech about the importance of access to education for all children across the globe (UN Global Goal 4), as part of our annual work for the ‘Send My Friend to School’ campaign. In the weeks running up to the Day of the African Child, every child at St Margaret’s had produced a piece of work explaining the importance of education and the effect it will have on their future lives. At the DAC finale, this work was presented to a representative for our MP: Matt Western, who will share the children’s work with the Prime Minister.