On Sunday 21 June at 2 pm, Dina Norberger, the Children and Young People’s Commissioner for the City of Chemnitz, will present a new leaflet on children’s rights at the Karl Marx Monument. The brochure was designed using pictures from a drawing competition for primary school pupils in Chemnitz. The launch will take place as part of the ‘Children’s Rights on the Street’ campaign, which uses accessible activities for children to explore and discuss the children’s rights featured in the booklet.
The publication will then be distributed to local primary schools, after-school clubs and childcare centres, and made available in various public buildings across the city of Chemnitz, such as the Moritzhof, TIETZ and the Town Hall.
In addition to the drawings on children’s rights, the 28-page booklet contains detailed explanations and specific points of contact for children in Chemnitz. It is being published in a print run of 8,500 copies and will also be available to download via the Chemnitz Family App at www.familienapp-chemnitz.de/downloads and on the Children and Young People’s Commissioner’s website at www.chemnitz.de/kinder_jugendbeauftragte.
Children’s Rights Drawing Competition
At the start of the 2025/26 school year, the Children and Young People’s Commissioner invited all children attending a primary school or after-school care centre in Chemnitz to take part in a city-wide drawing competition on the theme of children’s rights. The brochure was to be created from the best entries, illustrating the ten most important children’s rights with pictures drawn by the children themselves: the right to health, to equality, to education, to protection from violence, to freedom of expression, to leisure, to privacy, to protection in times of war and when fleeing, to equal opportunities for those with disabilities, and the right to a family. The children were free to choose which rights they wished to focus on. As the pupils in Chemnitz were also very concerned about the right to a clean environment – which is not generally counted among the ten most important children’s rights – it was included in the booklet as the eleventh children’s right.
A total of twelve schools and after-school clubs in Chemnitz responded to the call and submitted over 170 entries. The children had explored their rights and creatively expressed what matters to them.
The result was a collection of beautiful, exciting and surprising pieces, which a jury assessed according to various criteria: recognisable children’s rights, execution, relevance to Chemnitz, and suitability for the booklet. “I drew everything we need and everything that protects us when it comes to children’s rights,” says Emily from the winning primary school, “Am Stadtpark”.
Thanks to the sponsors GGG, Sparkasse Chemnitz and Volksbank Chemnitz eG, the top three schools received a generous cash prize, which they can use to realise the children’s wishes and projects. The prize-giving ceremony took place in mid-December 2025.
The importance of children’s rights
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was signed in 1989. Yet many children do not know exactly what rights they have or how they can stand up for them. The drawing competition was designed to encourage discussion about children’s rights and to empower young people.
Dina Norberger, Children and Youth Commissioner for the City of Chemnitz: “Children have rights, and these apply everywhere: at home, at school, at after-school care, on the playground or out and about in the city. It was important to me that children engage with the topic in a playful way from an early age.”
Gunda Georgi, Head of the Youth Welfare Office for the City of Chemnitz: “We’re delighted with the high level of participation and that a brochure with a clear local focus is now available to educate the youngest children.”