‘The world is facing a child rights crisis’

KATHMANDU, APRIL 26

Children and young people are among the most vulnerable to climate change and environmental degradation although they are the least responsible for them.

In light of this, the Children and Youth (BaYu) Sambaad was held here today to highlight their specific vulnerabilities, amplify their voices, and promote youth-led innovations and solutions for climate resilience and sustainability. Experts speaking and presenting at the programme emphasised that climate change poses a serious threat to child rights around the world.

Children and youth who participated in the dialogue expressed unequivocally that climate change has cost them dearly. They emphasised that schools and colleges are closed during droughts or disasters such as floods and landslides. Moreover, Kathmandu recently was listed as the most polluted city for a long time, putting children at the receiving end.

Jayanti Bam, a child representative from Gambhir School, stated that climate change has posed a significant threat to children’s growth. “Last year, my school was flooded by relentless rain, which had a significant impact on my education,” she said. “This also has an impact on our four major children’s rights.”

Nepal’s constitution and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) recognise four broad categories of child rights: the right to survival, the right to protection, the right to participation, and the right to development.

Presenting Children’s Vulnerability to Climate Change, Rakshya Rajyashwori Thapa, South Asia Regional Climate Advisor, UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia, stated that climate change affects every child. The world is facing a child rights crisis.

She said, “Children are more susceptible to climate change. 600 million children and youth are at the receiving end due to air pollution and climate change. A child’s body is unlike an adult’s. Furthermore, children breathe faster than adults, resulting in greater exposure to toxic particles. Children’s bodies also dehydrate more quickly than adults. This can have a lifelong detrimental impact on children.”

She added, “347 million children in South Asia are exposed to high water scarcity, the highest among all regions. Around 70 million of the region’s children live in drought-prone areas. In addition, over 10 million children in Nepal are exposed to vector-borne diseases linked to climate change, and 2.8 million children are exposed to extreme high temperatures.”

Youth representative Nischal Bhatt shared that youth participation is inevitable in every sector. “However, our participation is not properly secured. Thus, the government must ensure participation in each policy discussion,” he said.

Addressing the programme, Alice Akunga, UN resident coordinator ad interim, said that it is a very historic and significant event not just for Nepal but for the world.

“We have been talking about climate change for years, but now we can see it. It is not just about glacier melting and flooding; it is about the impact on child rights and other issues,” she said. “Half of Nepal’s population is at risk due to climate change, which they did not cause. The impact on them lasts from womb to tomb.”

She further said, “However, they are not only victims and impacted but also solution providers. As a result, we must recognise them, including the Nepal government, and address them. That is why BaYu Sambaad is important, as it is a side event of Sagarmatha Sambaad that will advance our policy formulation agenda in the right direction.”

Minister for Forest and Environment, Ain Bahadur Shahi Thakuri, stated that in order to work on climate change, we are organising Sagarmatha Sambaad to raise our concerns and call on the world to take action.

“We recently organised a programme in Thame village, which had been flooded, and decided to include them in Sagarmatha Sambaad. Furthermore, similar work has been carried out in all of the provinces,” he said.

“The government is working tirelessly to ensure everyone’s future in Nepal. Despite its small role in greenhouse gas emissions, climate change has had a significant impact on all aspects of our lives. As a result, the countries responsible for emissions must seriously consider how to reduce them. Nepal also aims to achieve zero emissions by 2045. We have secured a future for young people and protected the rights of the children with whom we have been working extensively.”