UNICEF launches guidance on children’s rights and climate change
The UNICEF Asia Pacific office in Bangkok recently hosted the regional launch of “General Comment No. 26” or GC 26, the authoritative guidance on how children's rights are impacted by the environmental crisis and which includes the voices of children across the region.
GC 26 is a guide to what governments must do to uphold these rights to ensure that children live in a clean, healthy, and sustainable world.
The paper addresses the climate emergency, the collapse of biodiversity, and pervasive pollution, outlining countermeasures to protect the lives and life perspectives of the young.
The launch event was moderated by Thai youths and joined virtually by children from Cambodia and Vietnam to voice their concerns on climate change.
Tomolo Ikuta, a 16-year-old member of the UNICEF Young People Advisory Board, told the Nation that they need to make sure that children’s voices are being heard and amplified. “It’s not just acknowledging that the children want to be part of it, but seeing the importance of it and prioritising their voices in what changes they want to see in this world and how they are willing to contribute.”
Speaking at the event, Ann Skelton, Chair of the Rights of the Child, said that this edition of GC 26 will certainly make a difference, because of the ownership of the children involved.
Skelton also called for protecting children’s rights to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment in the region. She said that children have pushed their concerns about the environment and climate change to the top of the agenda, and GC 26 recognises this and provides legal and practical guidance to governments and businesses.
Regional Director for UNICEF East Asia & Pacific, Debora Comini, also said that this is the first time that the general comment is well-structured at a global level of consultation to make sure it reflects the input of children directly. “It is also for us to say this is not what we say, this is what we heard,” said Comini.
The adoption of this General Comment followed a series of in-person and online consultations with children from 121 countries and regional consultations in Asia and South America. Based on 170 written submissions from states, United Nations entities, national human rights institutions, civil society, and 16,331 contributions from children themselves, it was ensured that the general comment is representative of diverse experiences and best interests of children globally.
