25 November 2020, 15:00-16:30
Right On
Diplo Foundation
The struggle for climate justice and for environmental protection and conservation is a struggle for human rights. This point, together with the reverse point – that the full enjoyment of human rights supports more effective and sustainable environmental and climate policies – has been repeatedly recognized in Human Rights Council’s resolutions and international environmental/climate agreements.
Nevertheless, around the world, 93 percent of children live in environments where air pollution exceeds WHO guidelines. According to the UN, the deaths of 1.7 million children under the age of five each year are due to environmental factors – notably air and water pollution and exposure to toxic substances. The impacts of environmental harm fall particularly hard on the youngest children, as well as on indigenous children and those from low-income and marginalized communities.
In order to raise awareness on climate change, environmental degradation and biodiversity loss, and thereby to protect their own rights and those of their communities, young people, in particular, have been at the forefront of the worldwide movements: marching peacefully and persistently; engaging in strategic litigation; helping to devise climate solutions; overturning obstacles and overcoming threats.
To find out more about children’s rights in the context of the environment, international efforts and youth engagement tune in on Wednesday 25 November at 15:00 CET.
‘Right On’ is a new digital initiative – co-organized by the Geneva Academy, the Geneva Human Rights Platform, the Geneva Internet Platform, the DiploFoundation, the Universal Right Group, the Human Rights Centre at the University of Essex, as well as the Permanent Missions of Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands to the United Nations in Geneva – that will keep the human rights dialogue going during these COVID-19 times.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet discussed, along with other panelists, children’s rights in the context of the environment, international efforts and youth engagement
Geneva Academy
The GHRP’s annual training equipped 19 diplomats with key insights into the UN Human Rights Council’s mechanisms and multilateral processes.
Adobe
Our recent research brief series explores how the United Nations' human rights system can enhance its role in early warning and conflict prevention.
Adobe Stock
The event, as part of the AI for Good Summit 2025 will explore how AI tools can support faster data analysis, help uncover patterns in large datasets, and expand the reach of human rights work.
Participants in this training course will be introduced to the major international and regional instruments for the promotion of human rights, as well as international environmental law and its implementation and enforcement mechanisms.
Adobe
This training course, specifically designed for staff of city and regional governments, will explore the means and mechanisms through which local and regional governments can interact with and integrate the recommendations of international human rights bodies in their concrete work at the local level.
Olivier Chamard / Geneva Academy
The Treaty Body Members’ Platform connects experts in UN treaty bodies with each other as well as with Geneva-based practitioners, academics and diplomats to share expertise, exchange views on topical questions and develop synergies.
The Geneva Human Rights Platform contributes to this review process by providing expert input via different avenues, by facilitating dialogue on the review among various stakeholders, as well as by accompanying the development of a follow-up resolution to 68/268 in New York and in Geneva.
Geneva Academy
Geneva Academy