Vision - Children's Meeting Places
The Children’s Meeting Place is a Tree
The Children’s Meeting Place is a Tree - Acacia Xanthopholea of the Mimosaceae family, known in English as the Fever Tree and in Kiswahili Mgunga.
250 children joined one another among the branches and around their Tree. They wrote and drew their wishes and messages for their new Meeting Place, danced, read poems, played music, sang songs and played together. The children came from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Finland and Sweden. All the children brought a cup of water and a handful of earth to honor their new Meeting Place and they brought their visions, ideas, hopes, dreams and concerns for our common future.
The Vision
The Tree will be a place to meet in respect, love and care and to learn from one another. The space under The Tree is a sacred place, where children shall feel secure and be free to express themselves without fear. Here the children will find a new extended family that cares for them. Under The Tree we are all mums, dads and kids - and we are all equal. The Tree will give space for traditional ways of sharing wisdom and knowledge, which has been ignored or forgotten in modern society. Children will remind decision-makers that the decisions they are to make will affect the children and their future.A Children’s Wish
The Children's Tree at the United Nations will be an inspiration for Cities, Municipalities and Villages all over the world to dedicate a strong and old tree to children at a central place where children, adults and decision-makers at all levels can meet and dialogue as a sign of unity.
Director General, UNON and Executive Director UNEP Dr. Klaus Töpfer together with the children by the Tree at the inauguration of the Children’s Meeting Place.