{"id":7817,"date":"2017-10-25T17:52:45","date_gmt":"2017-10-25T17:52:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/panap.net\/?p=366"},"modified":"2017-10-25T17:52:45","modified_gmt":"2017-10-25T17:52:45","slug":"a-call-for-action-to-protect-our-children","status":"publish","type":"panap_updates","link":"https:\/\/panap.net\/beta\/updates\/a-call-for-action-to-protect-our-children\/","title":{"rendered":"A Call For Action To Protect Our Children"},"content":{"rendered":"

PANAP is inviting all of you to join to commemorate International Children\u2019s Day on Nov 20th, 2017 and No Pesticide Use Week (December 3rd to December 10th) as part of the Protect Our Children from Toxic Pesticides Campaign.<\/p>\n

This year our focus will be on creating a safer world for children. Based on PANAP\u2019s POC Watch, the latest initiative of PANAP to closely monitor and expose violations of children\u2019s rights, there have been over 1,000 children affected by the use of pesticides. Out of this number, 44 have lost their lives.<\/p>\n

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Children are exposed to pesticides through their environment via the air they breathe, the food they eat and the water they drink. Schools are meant to be a safe environment for children, but many school children in Asia (both rural and urban areas) are exposed to pesticides while they are in supposedly safe learning environments.<\/p>\n

One of the main causes of pesticides exposure is due to \u201cpesticide drift\u201d. Pesticide drift is the physical movement of pesticide droplets from the source farm to a site not intended for application via the wind.<\/p>\n

Due to pesticide drift, school children are continuously being exposed to the pesticides from adjacent or neighbouring farms. Therefore, school children and their teachers are unknowingly being exposed to pesticide residue without their consent. Pesticide drift poses serious environmental and health risks, especially to children.<\/p>\n

Pesticides have been linked to learning disorders, cancer and various developmental disorders among children. To protect children from further pesticide exposure, let\u2019s work together to make our call for buffer-zones around schools even stronger this time and push for agroecology as an alternative to current farming methods.<\/p>\n

Our efforts have been reinforced by the joint report of two UN Special Rapporteur\u2019s which stated the need for a buffer-zone around schools and to replace chemicals like pesticides with biology for a better environment for our children\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

Call for Action<\/p>\n