As Southern Africa grapples with the escalating impacts of climate change, a critical initiative aimed at safeguarding children’s rights to a healthy environment is gaining momentum.
On the sidelines of the Southern Africa regional launch of the General Comment 26 on environmental child rights in Harare, civil society organizations (CSOs) are rallying under the banner of the “Take It Home” campaign.
The campaign seeks to unify efforts across the region, advocating for the adoption of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Child Protocol, which would establish a standardized policy framework for addressing children’s issues, particularly in the context of climate change.
pFelistus Motimedi Gazangeni, Executive Director of the Child Rights Network for Southern Africa (CRNSA), highlighted the importance of a cohesive approach in an interview on the sidelines of the event.
“As Civil Society Organizations, we are working collectively through the different side events that we are having, so that we can have one communique to the heads of state, and one of those is for them to adopt the SADC child protocol.
“This is a protocol that would ensure that SADC, as a region, has one policy or legal framework that facilitates for SADC countries to address issues of children uniformly. It would standardize how SADC countries are addressing issues of children, and that includes issues to do with climate change as it affects children,” Gazangeni said.
The proposed protocol, according to Gazangeni, would not only harmonise policies across the region but also hold member states accountable to each other. By creating a uniform legal framework, the protocol would ensure that children’s rights are protected with consistent provisions across SADC countries.
“It would also ensure that SADC countries become accountable to each other, because these issues would mean that they are standard and they can be addressed using a similar provision within the legal framework. That’s what we are pushing for, and that is why we are here because we need to ensure that the communique captures all of this, and that it’s solidified,” she added.
The “Take It Home” campaign underscores the urgent need for regional cooperation in tackling the environmental challenges that disproportionately affect children.
With the SADC Heads of State Summit set to take place in Zimbabwe, CSOs are determined to ensure that their unified voice is heard and that children’s rights remain at the forefront of the regional agenda.
