Star singers go: Children's rights in the focus of the 2024 campaign!

After Christmas, the star singers draw on to collect donations. The motto of the 67th nationwide Epiphany is this year: "Raise your voice! Star singing for children's rights". The campaign will open on December 28th in the Cathedral of Paderborn. Almost 1,500 children and 300 companions are expected. The Sternsinger have been the UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2015 and are committed to the rights of children.

The period of the campaign extends from December 27th to January 17th, 2025. The children are commemorating the three kings, pulling from door to door, singing songs and collecting money. Last year, almost 46 million euros nationwide, specifically 45,988,710.48 euros, were collected in 7,622 parishes, schools and kindergartens. In North Rhine-Westphalia, tens of thousands of children, usually between the ages of 8 and 12, are on the way, nationwide there are hundreds of thousands. Most star singers are active at the turn of the year. They bring the church blessing "C+M+B" into the houses.

visits and topics of the action

The visits to the Sternsinger can be registered in many parishes. Many groups are on the go on weekends to reach a particularly large number of residents. Responsible organizations of the campaign are the Children's Mission and the Association of German Catholic Youth (BDKJ). The unprecedented countries of the current motto are Kenya and Colombia, where important issues of children's rights such as the right to education, healthy growing up and medical care are treated.

The United Nations Child Rights Convention, which has been in force for 35 years, is based on the pillars of protection, promotion and participation. According to this convention, children worldwide have fundamental rights. It is pointed out that 250 million children, especially girls, do not go to school and have to work 160 million children worldwide, often under exploitial conditions. The aim of the campaign is to strengthen the rights of children worldwide and their implementation.

in Turkana, Kenya, children only have limited access to schools and medical care, whereby weather extremes lead to lack of food. A partner organization in Kenya is committed to children's rights in the areas of health, nutrition and education. In Colombia, the project partner is committed to the rights of children who often experience violence and neglect, and promotes programs for peace education and participation as well as therapies to strengthen children.

Through the star singing campaign, the children learn how they can contribute to strengthening children's rights worldwide and are encouraged to work for respect, protection and implementation of their rights. Further information on the background of the campaign can be found on sternsinger.de , while aachener-zeitung.de reported on the start of the initiative.