“Zamin” Foundation, UNICEF hold an international forum dedicated to World Children’s Day

At the same time, the right to live in a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is a tool that can be used by children and young people to accelerate the actions of governments to protect the environment. I think we all need to create opportunities for children to participate in the legal process and have a say,” Mr. Boyd said.

Helga Schmid, Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, also provided current information on the topic. She also emphasized that children are vulnerable to the wide-ranging effects of climate change.

“According to recent studies, children born in 2021 will experience 7 times as many anomalous heat waves, twice as many wildfires and nearly three times as many droughts compared to their grandparents born 60 years ago. Therefore, it is impossible not to agree with the opinion of the UNICEF organization that “climate crisis is a crisis of children’s rights”, she said.

UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia, Afshan Khan, confirmed that finding a solution to the climate crisis is the urgent priority of our time. She said that in the regions she represents alone, 198.5 million children suffer from various threats related to ecology and environment.

“Although children are not the cause of the climate crisis, they feel its effects disproportionately. Therefore, the best investment we can make for children now is to ensure that the services they need to live, grow and thrive are resilient to climate and environmental shocks; let’s support all children and young people in their aspirations to achieve the “green transition” and to improve the education and skills they will need to build a prosperous world for all,” Mrs. Khan said.

Inger Andersen, representative of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), offered one of the solutions to confront environmental threats:

“We need to take necessary measures to unify all programs to combat climate change, environmental pollution. We need to establish and implement the best possible quality standards for environmental control. We need to find intersections to advance environmental action, so that the voice of the youth can be heard. Let the financial flows from harming the planet be directed to its welfare. We must do everything we can to give our children the right to a stable future. For this, we need a strong partnership. In this regard, we are proud and appreciate our cooperation with the “Zamin” Foundation and many other organizations,” Inger Andersen said.

The forum was an effective platform for exchanging practical ideas on global and national efforts to prevent environmental problems and threats by improving the legal framework.

At the end of the event, the Final Document was adopted, calling on the international community to strengthen international, regional and national efforts to combat the negative consequences of the climate crisis, putting children’s rights and interests at the center of its climate action.

For information: World Children’s Day was announced in 1954 and is celebrated annually on November 20. The celebration of World Children’s Day by UN member states is a unique opportunity to raise public awareness of the promotion and protection of children’s rights and to create a favorable environment for children around the world through dialogue.