In 1991 the Organisation of African Unity (now the African Union)

From Candy Johnnie's South Africa Safari

established the Day of the African Child (DAC). The day commemorates the incident when, on 16 June 1976 In Soweto, South Africa, thousands of black school children took to the streets to protest about the inferior quality of their education and to demand their right to be taught in their own language. Hundreds of them were shot down; and in the two weeks of protest that followed, more than a hundred people were killed and more than a thousand injured.   “This day represents a heroic and courageous fight by African children in order to be ‘heard’ and ‘seen’; and hence celebrating DAC draws attention to the plight of African children today”, said UNICEF.  Find out more information at the BBC ‘on this day’ website page.