香港六合彩

XClose

Sustainable Development Goals

Home
Menu

Putting children at the centre of the SDGs

An initiative coordinated by child health experts at 香港六合彩 will ensure the needs of the next generation are at the centre of policies to deliver the SDGs.

Wide angle view of child girl draws planet earth with wax colors on school notebook

14 June 2022

New threats to children鈥檚 health are increasing around the world, ranging from the impacts of climate change, to exploitative marketing of unhealthy foods and products, to the as-yet misunderstood impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

To mitigate the impacts, a report, published in 2020 鈥 鈥楢 future for the world鈥檚 children?鈥, highlighted the need for a radical rethink on children鈥檚 health policies.

Forty health experts, led by Professor Anthony Costello and Dr Sarah Dalglish (both 香港六合彩 Institute of Global Health), contributed to report, which was published by the World Health Organisation (WHO), UN Children鈥檚 Fund (UNICEF) and The Lancet medical journal.

Their overriding message was that children鈥檚 health and well-being gives meaning to the concept of sustainability, and that the perspectives and voices of young people must be heard when shaping policies in all sectors.

To implement the recommendation to put children at the centre of the policymaking endeavour, in 2021 the team established Children in All Policies by 2030 (CAP-2030), in partnership with WHO, UNICEF and The Lancet. 鈥淐AP-2030 is developing a global movement for change to tackle the most urgent issues facing the world鈥檚 children today,鈥 emphasises Dr Dalglish.

The group鈥檚 activities vary depending on the local context, as each country has different priorities for improving children鈥檚 health and wellbeing. But all activities put children鈥檚 rights to health and wellbeing at their centre. CAP-2030 is building coalitions across countries, from Argentina to Senegal to India and the Pacific Islands. The network provides evidence and data for policymakers to take a broad view of what children need to be health and well.

鈥淐AP-2030 is developing a global movement for change to tackle the most urgent issues facing the world鈥檚 children today.鈥

On climate change, CAP-2030 seeks to demonstrate the impacts of climate change on children, such as the effects of extreme weather on health and the availability of food. With partners in the Pacific Islands, it works to amplify the voices of young activists and is supporting Indigenous youths to find their voice as part of the environmental justice movement.

In another area of work, in support the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, CAP-2030 is coordinating a new coalition made up of WHO, UNICEF, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), and numerous civil society, government and academic partners to understand the impacts of commercial marketing on children and take effective regulatory action to protect their physical health and mental well-being.

鈥淲e are engaging with communities, families, and children themselves to push for further national and international regulations to protect children from harmful marketing and the misuse of personal data,鈥 Dr Dalglish explains.

鈥淧utting children at the centre of the SDGs helps define what we mean by sustainability and will help us to make progress towards all goals,鈥 she adds.


Related links