LUCY STONE
Climate Change Advisor, UNICEF, United Kingdom
Résumé
Les enfants seront les héritiers des décisions de développement d’aujourd’hui. Il est donc vital d’assurer leur participation telle que reconnue dans la Convention des droits de l’enfant de l’ONU. La participation des enfants aux plans de développement durable peut conduire à des résultats plus tangibles. L’éducation est aussi importante dans ce processus de participation des enfants. Qui est préparé en termes de compétences et de savoirs sera apte à faire face à des risques de désastre liés à des intempéries et sera en outre un communicateur efficace envers sa famille et sa communauté, la Cité. La participation démocratique des enfants inclut, entres autre, la consultation et la co-planification des politiques et des programmes. Les considérations relatives aux droits de l’enfant et leurs opinions induisent nécessairement des considérations à propos de la coopération et des responsabilités intergénérationnelles. Il est important pour la stabilité économique et le développement des pays d’assurer l’équité sociale entre eux, mais il est aussi fondamental d’assurer l’équité sociale entre les générations.
Zusammenfassung
Die Kinder sind die Erben der heutigen Entwicklungsentscheidungen. Es ist daher wesentlich, ihre Beteiligung zu gewährleisten, so wie sie in der UN- Kinderrechtskonvention festgehalten ist. Die Beteiligung der Kinder an den Plänen für eine nachhaltige Entwicklung kann zu greifbaren Ergebnissen führen. Bildung ist in diesem Beteiligungsprozess der Kinder daher wichtig. Wer über die nötigen Kompetenzen und das nötige Wissen verfügt, ist auf Unwetterkatastrophen vorbereitet und kann ausserdem effizient mit seiner Familie und seiner Gemeinschaft kommunizieren. Die demokratische Beteiligung der Kinder umfasst unter anderem die Anhörung und den Einbezug bei der Planung der Massnahmen und der Programme. Die Überlegungen zu den Kinderrechten und zu der Meinung der Kinder führt notwendigerweise zu Zusammenarbeit und zu intergenerationellen Verantwortung. Für die Wirtschaftsstabilität und die Entwicklung der Länder ist es
wichtig, soziale Gerechtigkeit zwischen ihnen zu gewährleisten, es ist aber auch grundlegend, die soziale Gerechtigkeit zwischen den Generationen sicherzustellen.
Resumen
Los niños serán los herederos de las decisiones de desarrollo de hoy. Es por lo tanto vital garantizar su participación tal como se reconoce en la Convención sobre los Derechos del Niños de la ONU. La participación de los niños en los proyectos de desarrollo sostenible puede conducir a resultados más tangibles. La educación es también importante en este proceso de participación de los niños. Quien está preparado en términos de competencias y conocimientos será apto para enfrentar riesgos en caso de desastres relacionados con inclemencias climáticas y será además un eficaz comunicador con su familia y su comunidad, la ciudad. La participación democrática de los niños incluye, entre otras cosas, la consulta y la co-planificación de políticas y de programas. Las consideraciones relativas a los derechos del niño y sus opiniones inducen necesariamente a reflexiones sobre la cooperación y las responsabilidades intergeneracionales. Es importante para la estabilidad económica y el desarrollo de los países asegurar la equidad social entre ellos, pero es también fundamental garantizar la equidad social entre las generaciones.
Summary
Children are the ones who will inherit the development decisions of today. That being so, it is vital to ensure their participation as agreed in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The participation of the children in the sustainable development plans can lead to more effective outcomes. Education is also important in this process of participation of the children. Those who are prepared with skills and knowledge will be able to cope with disaster risk related to weather and in addition will be effective communicators to their family and wider community. The democratic participation of children includes inter alia consultation and co-design of policies and programmes. Considerations about children’s rights and their views necessarily involve considerations about intergenerational cooperation and responsibilities. It is important for the economic stability and development of the countries to ensure social equity between them, but it is also fundamental to ensure social equity across generations.
Sustainable development can only be achieved with meaningful participation of children, especially those which are most vulnerable to unsustainable forms of development.
The world’s population is young. More than a fifth of it is under nine years of age, and more than a third is under 18. About 85 per cent of the world’s youth live in developing countries, and 87 per cent live in countries affected by poverty, hunger, disease and violence. There is also increasingly convincing evidence that many of the main killers of children (malaria, diarrhoea and malnutrition) are highly sensitive to climatic conditions. These are expected to worsen as a result of climate change.
Children are the ones that will inherit the development decisions today and so have a right to be involved in decision making at the local, national and international level, as agreed under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
Article 3 of the CRC states:
The best interests of children must be the primary concern in making decisions that may affect them. All adults should do what is best for children. When adults make decisions, they should think about how their decisions will affect children. This particularly applies to budget, policy and law makers.
The participation of children is also vital to ensure that the development decisions taken are able to be implemented by children as they grow into adults. Evidence suggests that the participation of children in development plans can lead to more effective outcomes1. They are one of the biggest stakeholder groups, but can also provide a fresh and unique perspective, and can be better communicators, which contributes to better sustainable development outcomes. Children who are equipped with the skills and knowledge to minimize disaster risk, in the face of increasing weather related disasters, will have this life saving knowledge for the rest of their life. In addition, they can be effective communicators to their family and wider community. Child education was one of the key reasons why in Japan during the recent disaster, many children played a key role in moving their peers out of harms way.
The democratic participation of children can be enabled on a spectrum from consultation, to co-design of policies and programmes, to child-led programmes and projects. It can take place at the community level or in participating in national or international policy making. There are challenges and considerations to
1 A right to participate: securing children’s role in climate change adaptation, Children in a Changing Climate,
involving children, especially very young children, in a way that is meaningful. However, many years of good practice have shown the ways that best facilitate this to ensure constructive outcomes.
Case Study: Philippines: The power of children’s voice in coping with extreme weather
(Take from: A right to participate: securing children’s role in climate change
adaptation, Children in a Changing Climate, 2009)
Heavy rain early in 2007 caused several landslides in the Philippines. One village was buried with terrible loss of life. Subsequently the Philippines Mines and Geosciences Bureau conducted a risk assessment of potential landslides in Southern Leyte province in 2006, determining that eight barangays were at high risk within the Municipality of San Francisco. These included Santa Paz Sur and Santa Paz Norte, with recommendations to relocate affected houses. These two barangays were home to a high school and an elementary school, both of which were considered to be extremely exposed to landslides.
Following debates about whether and how to relocate the school, the headmaster opened the decision to a community-wide referendum, with a vote for each of the children of the school. Broadly the children were in favour of the relocation. But their parents were opposed because they did not want their children to travel to school located in a different community and local shops feared loss of business. The children’s organisations in the school embarked on an education campaign about the physical processes of landslides and a great many students wrote to the local government expressing their desire to relocate. The student’s proposal won the vote by 101 to 49. Due to concern from the Provincial authorities, the schedule for relocation was shortened to just two days following more heavy rains. A temporary tent school was erected over one weekend with children and parents helping to put up the tents and children digging drainage channels.
The children were very pleased that they had influenced this important decision and said they had no regrets about the decision to move. The new school was opened in July 2007 in Pasanon, a safer location a few hundred meters from the temporary school, with co-financing from Plan. The school is safe from landslide and flood and also includes earthquake mitigation measures such as steel ties on the roof.
Finally, democratic participation of children can provide an important reminder of the need for long term accountability and planning that is so fundamental to achieve sustainable development. Considerations about children’s rights and their views necessarily involve considerations about intergenerational
responsibilities. Current global economic difficulties are focusing the attention of politicians and business leaders on short-term action, but there’s also a pressing need to step back and address the bigger picture as part of the solution. Ensuring social equity, not just within and between countries, but across generations, is fundamental to economic stability and development. The sustainable management of natural resources and ecosystem services are central to achieving this.
Many feel that the social contract between generations is being broken. Citizens across the globe are demanding that social inequality be addressed, both within and across generations. Those starting school and college in 2012 will have to manage environmental burdens with potentially severe consequences, including climate change, growing resource scarcity and ocean pollution. It’s not enough simply to expect children and young people to solve problems they haven’t created. Their ideas and energy need to be part of the solutions but those solutions will also require intergenerational cooperation.