YEREVAN, 21 November 2025: To celebrate World Children’s Day and reaffirm commitment to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Armenia joined UNICEF’s global initiative to illuminate buildings, monuments, and landmarks in symbolic blue color. Ahead of World Children’s Day, Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory after Victor Ambartsumian was lit up in blue to symbolize the hope that, like the light from a distant star, will always find its way to a child in need.

To show their support for World Children’s Day, buildings, monuments and landmarks across the globe light up blue on November 20. In past years, notable landmarks that turned blue in support of child rights included the Sydney Opera House, the Acropolis in Greece, the Pyramids of Giza, ‘The Water Cube’ in China, Petra in Jordan, Rashtrapati Bhavan Presidential Residence in India, the African Renaissance Monument in Senegal, the Empire State Building in New York, and many more.

“Tonight, as this observatory glows blue, let it be more than a symbol. Let it be a beacon of our collective commitment. Let’s turn the hope we feel under this blue light into tangible action for children everywhere,” said Christine Weigand, UNICEF Representative in Armenia. “Humankind has mapped distant galaxies, but our most important mission is to chart a course for a better world for our children. That blueprint is the UN Convention on the Child’s Rights, and we are committed to continue our work with partners across Armenia to address the  Concluding Observations from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in 2024 that help us chart the way forward towards a better future for every child.”
 

With this activation, UNICEF Armenia not only looks up at the stars but also looks forward to starting a new country programme of cooperation with the Government of Armenia. From 2026 to 2030, UNICEF’s country programme will hinge on four key pillars:

• Strengthening of universal, accessible, and quality health and nutrition services
• Advancement of quality pre-primary and secondary education and skills for the future
• Integrated and shock-responsive child protection and justice systems, as well as
• Comprehensive and shock-response social protection systems that address poverty and deprivation.

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Note for editors:

In 2024, with the support of the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, led by National Ambassador Sergey Smbatyan, UNICEF lit up in blue the National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre in downtown Yerevan.

In 2022, the Yerevan ferris wheel and Mother Armenia statue in Victory Park, Matenadaran – Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts, and Margaryan maternity hospital were lighted in blue to symbolize what children need to grow up happy and healthy – joy and entertainment, protection and peace, education and culture, as well as health and nutrition in a family environment.

In 2021, the ruins of the ancient Zvartnots Cathedral near Yerevan went UNICEF blue to represent UNICEF Armenia’s mandate to stand for the rights of every child wherever they lives.