Ref: 50/2023

Date: 19 September 2023

On 17 September 2023, representatives of the Palestine’s Children Council-Gaza Strip, which is established and supervised by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), participated in a virtual dialogue titled: “Building Inclusive, Green, and Just Future: Children’s Voices Towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)”. The dialogue was organized by the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP), a global network of over 18,000 civil society organizations (CSOs). The GCAP organizes such meetings to be a platform for CSOs, activists, vulnerable groups, experts, and citizens to discuss urgent global issues, exchange views and demand SDG accountability. This dialogue is on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly’s 2023 SDG summit that took place on 17 and 18 September.

The dialogue aims at promoting children’s understanding of the SDG and their role in solving the climate change crisis and economic inequality. The dialogue also provides a platform for children to share their ideas about the importance of SDG in their communities to overcome climate change crisis and economic inequality, and environmental degradation. Moreover, the dialogue was organized to listen to children’s experiences, discuss the importance of achieving SDG, and how children can contribute to achieving these goals in their countries.

The children from the Council talked the challenges facing the Palestinian environment due to the Israeli Occupation Forces’ (IOF) measures and violations, including land-razing and seizures, vegetation removal, wastewater pumping, coastal and surface water pollution, and groundwater appropriation, posing a major challenge to the sustainable development plans. The children added that the Israeli-imposed closure on the Gaza Strip and recurrent military attacks have jeopardized children’s rights and best interests and have deprived them of the most basic rights that any child in the world should enjoy. Thus, this limits their participation in decision-making and setting plans and programs that strengthen their role in society.

The children emphasized that climate change and environmental degradation in Palestine directly threatens their ability to survive, grow and succeed in life and negatively affects their future and life.

At the end of the dialogue, the Palestine’s Children Council-Gaza Strip called on the international community to work on the following:

1. End the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territory and realize the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination.
2. Commit to climate change agreements, including the Paris Agreement.
3. Empower children to live in a safe and clean environment and consider children as a starting point for developing plans and strategies to combat climate change.
4. Work together to share the burden of climate change equitably, and that rich countries must provide financial and technical support for people in developing countries to access renewable energy, adapt to climate change and ensure redress, including compensation for those who have suffered and will continue to suffer from losses and damage caused by the climate change crisis.

It is worth noting that the Palestine’s Children Council- Gaza Strip was established by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) in partnership with Save the Children in 2021. The Council is considered a voluntary body comprised of children aged 12-17 years and representing the five Gaza Strip governorates, aiming to promote the actual participation of Palestinian children in all their issues and to empower them in order to shed the light on the child rights situation and improve it.