DUSHANBE, June 1, 2011, Asia-Plus -- The republican festival for gifted children, Sapeda (Dawn), is opening at the Kokhi Borbad State Complex in Dushanbe today.

President Emomali Rahmon is expected to visit the festival to congratulate young Tajiks on the occasion of International Day for the Protection of Children, which is marked in Tajikistan today.

The director general of the state unitary enterprise, Bazmoro, at the Ministry of Culture, Olim Akramov, who is also director of the Sapeda festival, says some 1,000 children that won qualifying district and regional rounds are participating in the festival.

“The festival is dedicated to create conditions for creative development of children, discovery of new talents as well as propagate original art and create conditions for development of national traditions,” Akramov said.

Festive events dedicated to International Children’s Day will be held at the Spartak Stadium in Dushanbe.

Shavkat Saidov, a spokesman for the Dushanbe mayor’s office, says children’s drawing contest, exhibition of photos taken by children and various sports activities will be held in Children’s Park in Dushanbe today.

According to the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979), International Day for the Protection of Children is a day of mobilization of world social opinion for the struggle to defend children from the threat of war, to preserve the health of children, and to carry out their upbringing and education on a democratic basis.  It was established in 1949 at the Moscow session of the Council of the Women’s International Democratic Federation in accordance with the decisions of its second congress.  Observed annually on June 1, the first International Day for the Protection of Children was held in 1950 in 51 countries.

Meanwhile, according to other version, the World Conference for the Well-being of Children in Geneva, Switzerland proclaimed June 1 to be International Children''s Day in 1925.  It is not clear as to why June 1 was chosen as the International Children''s Day: one theory has it that the Chinese consul-general in San Francisco (USA) gathered a number of Chinese orphans to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival in 1925, which happened to be on June 1 that year, and also coincided with the conference in Geneva.  The holiday is celebrated on June 1 each year. It is usually marked with speeches on children''s rights and wellbeing, children TV programs, parties, various actions involving or dedicated to children, families going out, etc.