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Earth Day: Stake for children
- Children have the biggest stake in environmental protection.
Their survival, growth and development depend on the existence of a safe
and clean environment.
- Children are more vulnerable to environmental hazards and degradation than
adults. For example, lead, a potent neurotoxin, is particularly harmful to a
child's brain development. Children absorb up to 50
per cent of the lead taken into their bodies whereas adults absorb 10-15 per cent.
- Lack of clean water and adequate sanitation services, unhygienic practices,
and poor living conditions remain the prevailing environmental issues threatening
children in developing countries.
- Common threats to the survival, growth and physical and mental development of
children often derive from their immediate enviroment -- such as their homes, schools
and communities. For example, in developing countries women and young children are
exposed to high levels of indoor air pollution from burning of biomass and fossil
fuels and from second-hand tobacco smoking.
- UNICEF focuses on the immediate environment of children with a clear objective
of reducing child mortality and morbidity. As such, it tries to integrate, where
appropriate, environmental considerations into its regular programmes.
- UNICEF programmes relating to the environment focus primarily on water
and environmental sanitation. Increasing attention is being given to water
resource management and water quality issues. For example, a UNICEF- supported
study of freshwater resources in different eco-regions in India helped local
communities better manage the use of water resources.
- Some UNICEF country programmes have also introduced other environmental
interventions, such as tree planting, environmental education, home gardening,
promotion of smokeless stoves and solar energy and paper recycling.
- Through advocacy and publications, UNICEF encourages children and youth
to become environmentally conscious and take part in their local sustainable
development activities. For example, UNICEF and UNEP have published a joint
report on children and the environment (1994) and an informational brochure
on childhood lead poisoning in 1998.
See also:
Earth Day: Healthy planet for children
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