Children and Young People

Children and young people are a force for the future and investment in them is vital. At the same time they need protection because of their vulnerability to theconsequences of environmental degradation. UNICEF (The United Nations Children’s Fund) describes them as being trapped in the spiral of “... poverty-populationenvironment.” Their huge potential is jeopardised by “... the mutually reinforcing problems of persistent poverty, rapid population growth and environmental degradation.”

Studies submitted to the Sub-Commission’s Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery reveal that millions of children continue to be victims of various forms of slavery and of the degradation of their environment and living conditions. They suffer rape, ill-treatment, economic exploitation, sexual abuse and debt bondage. They are often forced into lives of child soldiers, street children, unwilling drug pushers, etc.

It is hoped that the Committee on the Rights of the Child established under the 1989 Convention will address these particular issues. The Convention explicitly refers to the “natural environment” even though it is with reference to the need to direct the education of the child to the development of respect for the environment. As with other human rights instruments, many of its provisions are intended to be implemented from an ecological standpoint.