PARIS, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 40,000 French netizens have signed a petition of demanding the government to save the official protector of children's rights on Monday.

    The French government launched a draft recently to cancel the office of Children's Ombudsman for France and planned to merge the office into other branches, according to the government's announcement.

    Domonique Versini, the head of the office, which aims to defend and promote the children's rights in France, however, opposed that she was kept in the dark about the cancellation bill.

    A petition was launched on the office's website on Monday, saying "at this moment that the whole world are preparing for the 20th anniversary of the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child, Frace cannot cancel the office," because "all French children and minors have the right to own a conclusive organization to defend and promote their rights."

    Later on the day, some 39,283 signatures showed on the website supporting the office's demand.

    French office of Children's Ombudsman was established in 2000. It has defended children's rights and provided aid to over 20,000 children in France, according to the statistics of the office.