The ICD had its origin in the World Conference for the Wellbeing of Children in Geneva, Switzerland in 1925. It is not clear as to why June 1 was chosen as the ICD: 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.

　　June 1 has since been observed as the ICD by numerous countries, especially by Communist countries; in the Western world the ICD is usually celebrated on other days of the year (if at all), and there is often little public awareness about these celebrations. (See the section on Germany below for further discussions.) Consequently there is sometimes a misperception that June 1 as the ICD was a Communist invention. Nonetheless, in recent years even some groups within the United States started observing the ICD on June 1.

ICD有它的起源在世界兒童的福祉的會議在日內(nèi)瓦,1925年瑞士。目前尚不清楚為什么6月1日被選為ICD:一種理論認(rèn)為中國總領(lǐng)事在舊金山(美國)聚集大量的中國孤兒在1925年慶祝端午節(jié),這是6月1日那一年,恰逢在日內(nèi)瓦會議。
ICD的6月1日已經(jīng)觀察到許多國家,尤其是共產(chǎn)主義國家,在西方世界的慶祝ICD通常是在其他任何一天(如果有的話),通常是沒有公眾對這些慶祝活動。(請參閱下面的部分德國進(jìn)一步討論)。因此有時有誤解,6月1日ICD是一個共產(chǎn)主義的發(fā)明。盡管如此,近年來甚至一些團(tuán)體在美國開始觀察ICD 6月1日。