Background
As of mid-2019, 26% of South East Asia’s population was under the age of 15. Southeast Asia is part of the most disaster-affected region in the world. The impacts of climate change and displacements that result from severe weather events, air and water pollution, the use of chemicals and the production and disposal of toxic wastes, and the loss of biodiversity are exacerbating the fact that children are more susceptible than adults to all forms of environmental harm.
In 2018, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Environment (the Special Rapporteur) submitted a report to the Human Rights Council on the relationship between children’s rights and environmental protection. The Children’s Environmental Rights Initiative (CERI), created under the auspices of the Special Rapporteur, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and six other core partners, characterized the challenge for children’s rights and environmental protection as a lack of both clear normative and practical guidance on applying child rights in the environmental context. One of the most fundamental obstacles to the effective protection of children against environmental harm is a general lack of awareness of the many links between a safe and healthy environment on the one hand and children’s rights on the other. Those concerned with children’s rights and those who protect the environment often focus on one topic to the exclusion of the other. As a consequence, children’s rights tend to be overlooked in decision-making on the environment, which leads to adverse outcomes in terms of their health, development, and opportunities in life.
At the 44th session of the Human Rights Council on 1 July 2020, which included panel discussions on realizing the rights of the child through a healthy environment, many States requested guidance on how to support children’s rights to a healthy environment and involve children in decision-making processes, and particularly on how to do that at the regional level.
The Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has already laid the foundation for a regional approach to children’s rights to a healthy environment. All ASEAN Member States are Parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and also to key multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs). ASEAN has already adopted three declarations that have provisions pertaining to children’s rights to a healthy environment. However, there has been no comprehensive policy guidance to date for ASEAN governments and regional actors on this issue.
Rationale
The UNICEF East Asia and the Pacific Regional Office (UNICEF EAPRO), the UNEP Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (UNEP ROAP), and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Regional Office for South-East Asia (UN Human Rights SEARO) convened a Virtual Expert Group Meeting, on 15, 16, and 23 July 2020, to develop policy guidance for promoting and protecting children’s rights to a healthy environment in ASEAN. Seventeen youth experts from eight ASEAN countries joined other ASEAN experts on children’s rights and environmental rights and drafted 37 principles to guide the realization of children’s rights to a safe, clean, healthy, and sustainable environment in ASEAN.
On 20 September 2020, UNICEF EAPRO, UNEP ROAP, and UN Human Rights SEARO launched a call for inputs to contribute to finalizing the principles and providing input for guidance on implementing the principles. As the key stakeholder in the process, it is crucial that children in the ASEAN region have ample opportunities to provide their input for the principles and guidance on implementing them. This webinar will create such an opportunity and will provide incentives for participants to encourage their friends to provide their input as well.
Scope and objectives
The webinar, organized together with the UN Major Group for Children & Youth and regional youth networks, will introduce the basics of environmental rights and children’s rights to a healthy environment. Youth experts who were part of the expert group will present and explain the draft principles and an interactive platform will enable participants to provide their ideas and suggestions. Youth advocates who are standing up for their environmental rights will tell their stories.
The objectives of the webinar are to:
- Raise awareness of children’s rights to a safe, clean, healthy, and sustainable environment
- Gather input on the draft principles and policy guidance
