Access to Safe and Sufficient Water: A Right of Children and Future Generations

Side Event: 10th Asia-Pacific Forum for Sustainable Development

March 29, 17:15-18:30 GMT+7 

Theatre, Ground Floor, United Nations Conference Centre, Bangkok

Organizers

Organized by Save the Children International and co-organized by UN Environment Programme (UNEP), UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Regional Office for South-East Asia, Youth Empowerment in Climate Action Platform (YECAP), and Child Rights Coalition Asia

Registration

Register now!

To attend the side event, participants must also register to attend the APFSD by March 13 by using the option “Registration for Others” and choosing their side event.  Those who fail to register will not be able to access the United Nations Conference Center.

Background

Universal and equitable access to clean water is essential to the achievement of SDG 6 as well as the enjoyment of all human rights, including the rights of children and future generations to survival and to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. However, the triple planetary crisis hinders and undermines progress made toward the achievement of these targets by, amongst other things, exacerbating water scarcity and contaminating water resources. Despite contributing the least to this crisis, children bear the brunt of the challenges of accessing safe and clean water.

This side-event will mark 100 years of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child as well as 75 years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It will facilitate conversations around the impacts of water scarcity and pollution on children, the role that 'child rights’ play in achieving SDG-6, and the experiences of child and youth human rights defenders in advocating for climate and environmental action, especially around access to clean and safe water.

Key Questions and Outcomes

The side event will consist of an interactive session and a moderated panel discussion that will directly contribute to the outcomes of the 10^th APFSD.

The key guiding questions to be discussed include:

1. What are the climate and environmental impacts on children’s rights to water and sanitation, especially those from marginalized groups? How are water scarcity and pollution being felt and what are their implications for their future? 
2. Since it was first drafted 100 years ago, how has the Declaration on the Rights of the Child (which eventually resulted in the CRC) supported or contributed to the achievement of SDG 6? What actions need to be taken in terms of children’s rights to speed up efforts to achieve SDG 6 targets? 
3. What challenges do child and youth human rights defenders face in advocating for climate and environmental action and access to clean and safe water? How can their safety and protection be ensured as they continue to advocate for their rights?
4. How has your country contributed towards ensuring that everyone has safe and clean water to drink and that they have a safe and respectable place for defecation, especially for girls?