December 10th, 2025

His Excellency António Guterres
Secretary-General
United Nations
Subject: A Plea for the Protection of Children and the Restoration of Humanity’s Moral Duty
Your Excellency,
I write to you not only with concern, but with a profound sense of heartbreak.
Children—innocent, defenseless children—are dying in conflicts carried out by Member States of this very Organization that was created to protect them. The world watches as schools are shattered, hospitals burn, and the small bodies of children become casualties of weapons they never chose, understood, or deserved.
What can we say of humanity if even the youngest among us are denied the most basic of all rights—the right to life?
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child affirms this right without hesitation:

• Every child has an inherent right to life (Art. 6).
• Every child must be protected from violence (Art. 19).
• Every child must be shielded during armed conflict (Art. 38).
• Every wounded child has a right to healing and recovery (Art. 39).

Yet these articles are not being broken—they are being shattered.
The Sun and the Child: A Sacred, Universal Bond
Across the world, the sun rises without fail.
It warms every child equally—regardless of nationality, ethnicity, religion, or circumstance.
The sun offers life freely, giving energy, growth, and hope.
How devastating that some human beings—some governments—choose to take away what the sun grants so generously.
No missile should darken a child’s sunlight.
No bomb should silence a child’s laughter.
No political ambition should outweigh the sacred value of a child’s life.
Your Excellency, this must not continue.
​The United Nations cannot stand for peace while allowing its Member States to wage war against childhood itself.
The UN cannot speak of human rights while children’s rights are buried beneath rubble.
The UN cannot advocate for hope while children lose the sun that belongs to them by nature.
I implore you, with every moral force available to me:

• Condemn unequivocally all attacks harming children.
• Mobilize immediate international action to stop further violations.
• Demand accountability from Member States violating the Convention.
• Place the protection of children at the highest level of UN priority.

Your Excellency, the fate of children is the fate of humanity.
If we fail them, we fail every principle upon which the United Nations stands.
Respectfully,
Timo Virtanen
General Manager
World Children & Youth Physical Education Academy
(C.Y.P.E. – Academy)

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