June 1st, 2023, the conference, "Voices of Lithuania's Children" was organized at Mykolas Romeris University (MRU) celebrating International Children's Day.

The event was held for the 7th time in a row. Children, who participated in the drawing and video clip competition, "If I Had a Magic Wand..." were on hand to accept prizes for winning entries.

Among the interesting winning entries in the 6-8 years old drawing category was that of 8-year-old Vilnius Services Center Šeimos Slėnis pupil Emanuil Rieka.  His entry was, "If I Had a Magic Wand, the War Would End and I would Return Home."

Seimas Speaker Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, patron of the event, addressed the children. Chairman of the Human Rights Committee of the Seimas Tomas Vytautas Raskevičius was also on hand for the event.

This year as many as 234 children from pre-schools, schools and day care centers participated in the competition sending in their entries.

Artūras Novikas Jazz School's vocal group, "Sun Jazz" set the mood with a performance and the Lithuanian project, "Rhythm and Creation All At Once" artistic programme.

The Conference is popular among Lithuania's youth and their teachers. The aim of the event is to listen to the opinion of children, which is not always heard. It is also to create innovative traditions and an atmosphere conducive to cooperation between educational institutions and the society at large. Seven years ago this idea born and brought to fruition by MRU Educational Sciences and Social Work Institute Children's Rights Master's Degree programme lecturers.

More information about the event and winners here.