{"id":4652,"date":"2022-06-05T08:35:11","date_gmt":"2022-06-05T00:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/panap.net\/?p=4652"},"modified":"2022-06-05T08:35:11","modified_gmt":"2022-06-05T00:35:11","slug":"panap-welcomes-un-experts-call-to-address-rising-child-labour-in-agriculture-protect-children-from-toxic-pesticides","status":"publish","type":"panap_updates","link":"https:\/\/panap.net\/beta\/updates\/panap-welcomes-un-experts-call-to-address-rising-child-labour-in-agriculture-protect-children-from-toxic-pesticides\/","title":{"rendered":"PANAP welcomes UN experts\u2019 call to address rising child labour in agriculture, protect children from toxic pesticides"},"content":{"rendered":"

Penang, Malaysia\u2013Regional advocacy group PAN Asia Pacific (PANAP) welcomed the call of United Nations experts for urgent action to address the alarming increase in child labour and protect children from hazardous work, especially in agriculture where an estimated 108 million children working on farms and plantations are exposed to toxic pesticides.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the occasion of World Environment Day, PANAP and its partners also launched its annual Protect Our Children from Toxic Pesticides campaign to raise awareness on the harms of pesticides on children, with the theme, \u201cChildren\u2019s Rights to a Pesticides-Free World.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On May 30, 21 independent UN experts issued a <\/span>statement<\/span><\/a> saying that multiple global crises \u201cthreaten to reverse years of progress against child labour.\u201d In 2020, the number of child labourers around the world rose to 160 million\u2013the first increase recorded in 20 years. Around 79 million children are engaged in hazardous work, including in the agriculture sector where 70% of child labour is concentrated.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTens of millions of children are engaged in hazardous work, where they are often exposed to toxic chemicals, including highly hazardous pesticides. To this day, children working in agriculture continue to be exposed to hazardous pesticides that are banned in the country of export, resulting in abhorrent double standards and discrimination,\u201d the UN experts said. They further pointed out that \u201cIt is often the case that after exposure to toxic pesticides, the violation of a child\u2019s right to physical integrity from toxics cannot be undone.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Sarojeni Rengam, PANAP executive director, affirms the statement of UN experts. \u201cChildren breathe more air, eat more food and drink more water per unit of body weight compared to adults, which leads to greater exposure in a pesticide-contaminated environment. Early life exposure can damage their still-developing brain and nervous system, disrupting mental and physiological growth. Indeed, exposure to toxic pesticides is a constant violation of children\u2019s rights, which can only be stopped with enough political will from policymakers,\u201d Rengam said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pesticide Action Network is working towards a global phase-out and ban of Highly Hazardous Pesticides by 2030. \u201cA global phase-out and ban of HHPs by 2030 is urgently needed to protect the millions of children in Asia who are exposed to pesticides not only in farms, but also in their homes and schools that are often situated right next to farms. A study by PANAP on <\/span>children working in the floriculture industry in India<\/span><\/a> shows that children suffer from various symptoms of pesticide poisoning and are exposed to pesticides drift even while studying in school or playing at home,\u201d Rengam said.<\/span><\/p>\n

PANAP\u2019s Protect Our Children campaign encourages policy makers to ban pesticides that are most toxic to children, promotes agroecology as an alternative, and advocates for pesticide-free buffer zones around schools.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With these calls, PANAP\u2019s partners in Vietnam, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, India, Laos, Bangladesh, New Zealand, Malaysia, and Indonesia will conduct various activities such as art competitions, educational activities for students, meetings with parents and teachers, petition signing and lobbying for pesticide-free buffer zones around schools, organic farming, children\u2019s theater, and storytelling starting June 5. ###\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Penang, Malaysia\u2013Regional advocacy group PAN Asia Pacific (PANAP) welcomed the call of United Nations experts for urgent action to address the alarming increase in child labour and protect children from hazardous work, especially in agriculture where an estimated 108 million children working on farms and plantations are exposed to toxic pesticides. On the occasion of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4653,"template":"","update_categories":[107],"class_list":["post-4652","panap_updates","type-panap_updates","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","update_categories-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/panap.net\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/panap_updates\/4652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/panap.net\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/panap_updates"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/panap.net\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/panap_updates"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/panap.net\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/panap.net\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/panap_updates\/4652\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/panap.net\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/panap.net\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"update_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/panap.net\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/update_categories?post=4652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}