Consultative Status with ECOSOC
The IPA Declaration of the Child’s Right to Play was originally produced in November 1977 at the IPA Malta Consultation held in preparation for the International Year of the Child (1979). It was revised by the IPA International Council in Vienna, September 1982, and Barcelona, September 1989.
The IPA Declaration should be read in conjunction with Article 31 of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child (adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations, November 20, 1989), which states that the child has a right to leisure, play, and participation in cultural and artistic activities.
The year began with IPA’s Triennial Conference in Hong Kong, our first international conference in Asia. Another ‘first’ was the adoption of a broad ranging Strategic Plan, built ‘from the ground up’ involving hundreds of members worldwide. During the year a detailed Communications Plan was added to the Master Plan giving it further strength and making it truly comprehensive. With the establishment of seven Working Groups, as well as a Constitution Review Committee, the implementation phase made good progress. Another highlight was IPA’s official involvement in the first Child Games and Toys International Conference in held in Hangzhou, China.
It was a year of “firsts” for IPA. The Board, Council, Working Groups and members worldwide ended the year with a sense of accomplishment and renewed commitment to the organization and its goals.
