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	A record 235 million people will need humanitarian assistance and protection next year by UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs   Dec. 2020   A record 235 million people will need humanitarian assistance and protection next year, a near 40 per cent increase on 2020 which is “almost entirely from COVID-19”, the UN’s emergency relief chief said on Tuesday.   In an appeal for sufficient aid funding to meet rising humanitarian needs in the next next year, Mark Lowcock said that the global health crisis had impacted dramatically people already reeling from conflict, record levels of displacement, climate change shocks. He said that “multiple” famines are looming.   The situation is “desperate” for millions and has left the UN and partners “overwhelmed”.   “The picture we are presenting is the bleakest and darkest perspective on humanitarian needs in the period ahead that we have ever set out.   That is a reflection of the fact that the COVID pandemic has wreaked carnage across the whole of the most fragile and vulnerable countries on the planet.”   "It has been clear for some time that it is not the virus itself doing most harm in vulnerable countries. It is the secondary impacts of the subsequent lockdowns and global recession – rising food prices, falling incomes, drops in remittances, interrupted vaccination programmes, school closures. They all hit the poorest people in the poorest countries hardest".    "Extreme poverty is increasing. Life expectancy will fall. The annual death toll from HIV, tuberculosis and malaria is set to double. We fear a near doubling in the number of people facing starvation. Many girls out of school will never go back".   The rise of hunger shows no signs of abating. By the end of 2020, the number of acutely food insecure people could increase to 270 million due to COVID-19, representing an 82 per cent increase compared to the number of acutely food insecure people pre-COVID-19. Urgent and sustained humanitarian action is needed to avoid further deterioration and to prevent a risk of famine in areas already on the brink of starvation.   "The pandemic has been devastating but for many of the countries whose needs we are responding to in this plan it was yet another layer of hardship on top of protracted conflicts, the effects of climate change, and the worst locust plague for a generation".   "Altogether it’s a toxic mix that has driven humanitarian need to levels unimaginable at the start of the year.  As we look ahead we face the prospect of a return to a world in which famine – something we thought we had consigned to history – is commonplace once more. Where the rights and prospects of women and girls are set back. Where parents cannot confidently expect their babies to reach their fifth birthday".   "All this can be avoided. Working together to find and fund solutions is the only way out. Wealthy nations have the means and motivation to help. Local problems become global problems if you let them. There is a strong moral and self-interest argument to act".   "We still don’t have a response that matches the scale of the crisis. We need the plans summarized in this overview to be fully funded - $35 billion is required to meet the needs of 160 million people. The faster that happens, the better. This is a crucial juncture. We won’t get a second chance to make the right choice".   "I have never been more in awe of the determination of people who live unimaginably hard lives in humanitarian tragedies, and their refusal to give up hope. Human progress is hard won and fragile. History will judge us harshly if we preside over the grand reversal".    Echoing Mr. Lowcock’s call for global solidarity, UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged the world to “stand with people in their darkest hour of need”, as the global pandemic continues to worsen.   Although the humanitarian system had delivered “food, medicines, shelter, education and other essentials to tens of millions of people throughout the year, “the crisis is far from over”, the UN chief said.   This year’s Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO) sets out plans “to reach 160 million of the most vulnerable people in 56 countries”, Mr. Lowcock said.   He noted that while richer countries had invested some $10 trillion in staving off economic disaster from the COVID-induced slump and could now see “light at the end of the tunnel…the same is not true in the poorest countries”.   The COVID-19 crisis had plunged millions into poverty “and sent humanitarian needs skyrocketing,” Mr. Lowcock explained, adding that aid funding was needed to “stave off famine, fight poverty, and keep children vaccinated and in school”.   Money will also be used from the UN’s Central Emergency Relief Fund (CERF) to tackle rising violence against women and girls linked to the pandemic, Mr. Lowcock said.   He also highlighted how climate change and rising global temperatures had further contributed to the bleak outlook for humanitarian needs in 2021, the impact being “most acute in the countries which have also got the biggest humanitarian problems. Indeed, eight of the 10 countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change are ones where humanitarian agencies have got a huge amount of work to do already.”   Conflicts new and old had also contributed to increased needs, the UN relief chief said, pointing to “new spikes of conflict in places that were previously more peaceful. We’ve seen that obviously recently in Nagorno-Karabakh, we’ve seen it in northern Mozambique, we’ve seen it in the Western Sahara and at the moment obviously, tragically, we’re seeing in northern Ethiopia.”   Sadly, these flare-ups “haven’t replaced conflicts in other places”, said Mr. Lowcock. “In fact, things are just as bad now in the biggest humanitarian settings driven by conflict as they were a year ago.”   “We’re overwhelmed with problems, as you know, but just the scale of the need and the scale of crisis is such that these efforts to anticipate things make things a little bit better than they would otherwise have been, but they still leave us with a terrible, desperate situation.”   In addition to providing the means to help communities in crisis, Mr. Lowcock underscored the UN appeal’s focus on preventive action.   This included a cash injection for the World Health Organization (WHO) in February at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic, to ensure that poorer countries received protective equipment to tackle COVID-19.   Similarly, tens of thousands of potential flood victims in Bangladesh received “support and cash” help in time so that they could protect their belongings and livelihoods.   “What we ended up with there was a much cheaper, more effective response as well as one that dramatically reduced the human suffering we would have had than if we’d done the traditional thing - waiting until floods arrive,” Mr. Lowcock highlighted.   The UN emergency relief chief underscored that the scale of the challenges facing humanitarian agencies next year are massive – and growing. “If we get through 2021 without major famines that will be a significant achievement,” he said. “The red lights are flashing, and the alarm bells are ringing.” http://gho.unocha.org/   http://www.unocha.org/media-centre http://news.un.org/en/news/topic/humanitarian-aid Visit the related web page
	Children have a right to a healthy environment by Joint Call to Action to UN Human Rights Council   On 1 July 2020 at the Human Rights Council's Annual Full Day meeting on the Rights of the Child, the Children’s Rights Environmental Initiative (CERI) together with the Child Rights Connect Working Group on Environment and with the support of more than 20 institutions and high-level experts from around the world, presented a joint Call to Action to the Human Rights Council demanding formal recognition of children’s right to a healthy environment.   The following statement calls on governments to strengthen their commitments to adopt a child rights-based approach to environmental and climate-related initiatives, and identifies 7 concrete measures for action:   'At a time when the world is in a deep health crisis, and as children’s rights globally suffer severe setbacks due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, attention must not be diverted from the environmental emergency that is undermining children’s rights and future prospects around the world.   Each year more than 1.7 million children under the age of five lose their lives as a result of avoidable environmental degradation, while millions more suffer disease, disability, and an array of other forms of harm, some of which can result in lifelong effects.   Children’s rights are under threat due to insufficient government measures to address the climate crisis, unprecedented levels of biodiversity loss, exploitation of natural resources, exposure to toxic substances and waste, and widespread pollution of the air, water and soil.   Negative effects are disproportionately experienced by girls, children in poverty, indigenous children, children with disabilities and others in vulnerable situations, exposing them to intersecting risks and often violating the principle of non-discrimination.   In light of this, millions of children and youth across the world are calling for more urgent and ambitious action to tackle the root causes and impacts of the global environmental crisis.   For the annual full-day meeting on the rights of the child, Member States should ensure that children’s voices are not only heard, but acted upon, by placing children’s rights and best interests at the core of ambitious and concrete environmental actions and policies, including recognition of a human right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment. The time is ripe for action.   Recommendations   Place children’s rights at the heart of environmental policies and action   A general lack of awareness of the many links between a safe and healthy environment on the one hand, and children’s rights on the other, combined with weak political will, represent fundamental obstacles to the respect, protection and fulfilment of children’s rights in the context of environmental measures.   The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) provides a clear normative framework for realizing children’s rights through a healthy environment, but consideration of the treaty remains largely absent from environmental or climate-related policies, laws, and action.   We call on States to:   Respect, protect and fulfil children’s rights when adopting and implementing environment-related agreements, policies and action to address environmental harm including biodiversity loss and ecosystem destruction, pollution, exposure to hazardous substances and wastes, and climate change, underpinned by a precautionary and preventive approach.   Particular attention must be paid to the most marginalised and vulnerable children, and public resources - including regional and international development aid - must be mobilised and allocated accordingly.   Adequately regulate businesses to ensure that they comply with all applicable environmental laws and the General Comment No. 16 of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, including mandatory child rights due diligence and environmental impact assessments in order to identify, prevent and mitigate their environmental impact on child rights, including across their supply chains and within global operations.   Support and constructively engage in the further development of authoritative guidance on children’s rights and the environment, including through a future General Comment on Child Rights and the Environment to be elaborated and adopted by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.   Recognise the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment   The right to a healthy environment should be formally recognised by the United Nations as soon as possible. Such a step would be of particular relevance to children, as well as for future generations, who shoulder a disproportionate share of the burden of environmental harm.   It is beyond debate that children are wholly dependent on the natural environment to lead dignified, healthy and fulfilling lives, including a safe climate, clean air, safe water and adequate sanitation, healthy and sustainably produced food, non-toxic environments to learn and play in, and healthy biodiversity and ecosystems.   We call on States to:   Support the formal recognition of the human right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment by the UN   Protect and support child environmental human rights defenders   In too many instances, the views, rights and interests of children go completely unheard in decisions on the environment, leading to adverse outcomes in terms of children’s well-being and development.   Furthermore, when acting and speaking out on environmental issues, children often face condescension, intimidation, harassment, reprisals and even violence from authorities or corporations. Children in all their diversity must be empowered to defend their right to a healthy, safe and sustainable environment.   We call on States to:   Take concrete action to protect the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly of child environmental human rights defenders, including online, by providing a safe and enabling environment for initiatives by young people and children to defend human rights relating to the environment, and by promoting a positive narrative around their activities. Pay particular attention to the rights of girls and young woman defending the environment.   Increase children’s awareness of environmental issues, and strengthen their respect for the natural environment and capacity to respond to environmental challenges, at all stages of education, including by ensuring the availability and accessibility of age-and gender-responsive information on the effects of environmental harm.   Facilitate public participation in decision-making on the environment, with a particular emphasis on fulfilling children’s right to be heard, including from a young age, and ensuring that their views are given due weight in all environmental processes.   Ensure that children have access to justice, including effective remedies for and reparation of human rights violations due to environmental harm, for example climate change and exposure to toxic substances and pollution, through child-friendly complaint mechanisms at all levels, including by ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure.   Address the climate crisis   The climate crisis is a children’s rights crisis. Yet, just 20 per cent of national climate policies mention children, and only 2 per cent of them refer to children’s rights. We call on States to align with the Intergovernmental Declaration on Children, Youth and Climate Action and implement the following commitments:   Undertake the urgent and transformative action required to limit global temperatures to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, in line with best available science and as pursued by the Paris Agreement. This includes the rapid replacement of fossil fuels with rights-respecting renewable energy projects to reduce emissions, and an urgent shift to a circular economy that significantly reduces waste and pollution.   Respect, protect and fulfil the specific rights of children and young people in the implementation of the Paris Agreement at all levels, including targeted measures in countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions, National Adaptation Plans and long-term low-carbon emission development strategies   Urgently scale up and accelerate investment in child-responsive adaptation, disaster risk reduction and mitigation measures, with particular attention to marginalized children   End childhood exposure to pollution and toxic substances   Government failure to address exposure to pollution and to toxic substances and wastes unambiguously violates a wide range of children's rights. Children are born “pre-polluted”. Due to their extremely and uniquely sensitive periods of development, they are not only victims of poisoning that is immediately visible, they also suffer or endure latent impacts from chronic exposure to pollution, to hazardous chemicals and to toxic wastes, causing disease, disability and child mortality later in life.   We call on States to:   Uphold their duty to prevent childhood exposure to pollution and toxic chemicals as part of States’ obligation to protect children, and ensure that this is reflected in laws and policies based on the child's best interests, as well as through business activities   Ensure a just and green recovery from COVID-19, and take urgent steps to prevent future pandemics   Environmental degradation is one of the root causes of zoonotic diseases such as COVID-19, which has caused more than 475, 000 deaths to date, and inflicted untold suffering on children. States now have an unprecedented opportunity to implement transformational recovery plans that protect children’s rights and the environment, while addressing the drivers of climate change, biodiversity loss, toxic pollution and zoonotic diseases. Children must also have access to knowledge and skills that can support them in the future in accessing decent jobs in a green economy, including by tackling discriminatory gender norms that prevent girls and young women from accessing STEM education and jobs.   We call on States to:   Focus recovery plans and investment on fulfilling children’s rights through ‘building back better’ to achieve a just, healthy and sustainable future, accelerating efforts to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement   Strengthen rather than weaken environmental regulations and protections, including policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.   Improve access to transformative green skills for children and young people, ensuring such efforts reach girls and young women, through formal and non-formal education and training.   Strengthen monitoring and reporting on children’s rights and the environment   Monitoring and reporting on the impacts of environmental harm on children’s rights, as well as progress made to fulfil children’s rights in this context, are essential for raising awareness and underpinning more effective and targeted policies and measures.   We call on States to:   Strengthen monitoring on children’s environmental rights (e.g. childhood exposure-monitoring for adverse physical and mental health impacts linked to the environment), and publish and disseminate age and gender disaggregated information on the results.   Incorporate the implications of environmental harm on the full enjoyment of children’s rights in their periodic reports to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, their national reports under the Universal Periodic Review, and in their reporting under environmental frameworks and the Sustainable Development Goals'.   http://www.childrenvironment.org/blog/a-joint-call-to-action http://www.ungeneva.org/en/news-media/taxonomy/term/175/2020/07/human-rights-council-begins-its-annual-full-day-meeting-rights http://reliefweb.int/report/world/human-rights-council-holds-panel-ensuring-children-s-rights-through-healthy-environment http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Environment/SREnvironment/Pages/SafeClimate.aspx http://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/ Visit the related web page
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