This is the moral challenge of our generation.

We cannot rob our children of their future.

~ Ban Ki-Moon (December 2007)

Children are central

Existing vulnerabilities and climate
change
CRC | WFFC
Empowered children = protagonists for
change
Recommendations
Children are
central…
 Many of the main killers of
children such as malaria, diarrhoea
and malnutrition are highly sensitive
to climatic conditions, threatening
survival and health.

 Climate change destabilizes

social and livelihood systems that
support children’s development,
leading to worsening in educational
status and gender inequality.

 Children are primary victims of

natural disasters and armed conflict
raising child protection issues.

 Today’s children and future

generations hold rights to survival,
development and protection
Child survival worldwide
and climate change

The 60 countries highlighted in red

are priority countries for UNICEF
 Children are central
Existing vulnerabilities and climate change
CRC | WFFC
Empowered children = protagonists for change
Recommendations
Existing and Emerging Vulnerabilities
• Undernutrition is the underlying cause of at least 3.5 million deaths
annually, and more than one-third of deaths in children under five years of
age.
• Malaria causes an estimated one million deaths each year – around 80
percent of which are amongst children under five -- In sub-Saharan Africa
alone, more than 2,000 children under five die each day from malaria.
• Poor water, sanitation and hygiene contribute to 5.4 billion cases of
diarrhea worldwide and 1.6 million deaths, mostly among children under
five
• Energy poverty, associated with cooking and heating with traditional
fuels on open fires or stoves, results in indoor air pollution responsible for
1.6 million deaths a year, half of which in children under five.
• In 2008 for the first time in history more than half of the world’ s children
are living in urban areas, with much of the population growth occurring in
informal settlements lacking basic services and frequently experiencing
destruction from flooding and landslides
• The loss of life associated with natural disasters is disproportionately
high among children and women
“[Climate change is] slowing progress towards
the MDGs and deepening inequalities within
and across countries. Left unattended, it will
lead to…

…human
development
reversals
throughout
the 21st
Century.”

~ HDR
2007/2008
 Emergency response and reconstruction
The UNICEF response to
humanitarian crises is guided by its
Core Commitments for Children
in Emergencies (CCC) whose 1st
principle state that:

“Children in the midst of armed conflict

and natural disasters such as drought,
floods and earthquakes have the same
needs and rights as children in stable
countries.”

provision of essential, life-saving and

Key elements of the fulfillment of these
rights include:
sustaining services
temporary learning spaces and, later, support
the reopening of schools and reintegration of
students and teachers
Ensure that family-tracing systems are
implemented with appropriate care and
protection facilities.
Prevent sexual abuse and exploitation of
children and women
 Children are central
Existing vulnerabilities and climate change
CRC | WFFC
Empowered children = protagonists for change
Recommendations
The Normative Basis:
Child Rights Instruments
Convention on the Rights of the World Fit for Children - 2002
Child – 1990
Article 24 “We will give every assistance
• States parties recognize the right of the
child to the enjoyment of the highest to protect children and minimize
attainable standard of health…in particular, the impact of natural disasters
[they] shall take appropriate measures:
– To combat disease and undernutrition,
and environmental degradation
through, inter alia, the application of readily on them” Principle # 10
available technology and the provision of
adequate nutritious foods and clean drinking
water, taking into consideration the dangers
and risks of environmental pollution; …
Article 29
• States parties agree that the education of
the child should be directed to the
development of respect for the natural
environment.
 Priority: Climate-Proofing
Communities
 Determine action via rights-based analysis
which includes attention to the control and
distribution of natural resources; the socio-
cultural organization and institutional
arrangements
 Target the poorest and marginalized
 Focus on low cost, high impact, demand-driven
interventions in health, nutrition and water to
build resilience
 Disseminate decentralized technologies with
attention to operation and maintenance for
poverty alleviation and GHG reduction
 Build capacities at local and national level for
leadership and responsibility (decentralization
without local elite capture)
 Strengthen social protection and conflict
resolution mechanisms
 Promote participatory approaches to community
development include forest, water and energy
stewardship, environmental education, disaster
risk reduction and preparedness
 Children are central
Existing vulnerabilities and climate change
CRC | WFFC
Empowered children = protagonists for change
Recommendations
Empowered young people: protagonists for
change
“Young people are well placed to contribute to the fight even now. They are
adept at spreading new habits and technologies. They are adaptable and can
quickly make low-carbon lifestyles and career choices a part of their daily
lives. Youth should therefore be given a chance to take an active part in the
decision-making of local, national and global levels. And they can actively
support initiatives that will lead to the passage of far-reaching legislation.”
~ Ban Ki-Moon
World Youth Day 2008
 Participation Rights in Principle and in
Action
 The CRC affords children non-
negotiable rights to freedom of
expression, to form and join
associations and to seek and
receive appropriate information –
all aimed at empowering children
and bringing about changes in their
own lives.
 This implies key roles for children
with respect to climate change,
including, contributing to
shaping the policy agenda,
devising and implementing
solutions, and involvement in
monitoring and evaluation.
children and youth conferences and
coalitions are forming to engage in the
debate at the international and
national and local levels. A Children’s
Climate Forum is planned for 2009 in
Copenhagen in parallel with COP-15.
At the local level, compelling case
studies indicate that children can play
a crucial role in supporting disaster
preparedness and recovery
activities, with benefits for their own
physical and mental health and that of
their surroundings.