December 10, 2020
Press Release
BAN Toxics highlights children’s rights integration on environmental justice
Today is International Human Rights Day! As we celebrate 72 years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, BAN Toxics calls for the continued support for our children and their right to health, education, protection from abuse and harm, and an adequate standard of living.
To this day, children continue to be severely impacted by the mismanagement of toxic chemicals. The World Health Organization states that children have special vulnerabilities to the toxic effects of chemicals, and exposure at critical stages may have severe long-term health consequences.[1]
In the last decade, BAN Toxics has worked and continues to work with artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) communities in and outside of the Philippines. The poverty-driven ASGM sector, considered the primary anthropogenic source of mercury pollution globally, is linked with various social and economic issues such as informality, indecent working conditions, and inequitable wealth-sharing. Child labor continues to be a problem—mining is considered one of the most hazardous forms of child labor.
Through our partnerships with mining communities and other organizations, BAN Toxics has helped remove child laborers from mine sites. From 2017 to 2019, 384 child laborers were removed from mine sites in Camarines Norte, and were given a chance to access education. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic however, most (if not all) of the children under the program have returned to mining to help support their families.
In light of this, BAN Toxics has spearheaded a fundraising campaign to help raise funds for identified child laborers. The organization is hoping to raise enough money to keep children away from mine sites and provide them with enough resources to access food and to stay in school.
Our vision of a toxics-free world for our children continues to be our main advocacy. The organization is set to release “Mainstreaming Children’s Rights in Environmental Law” early next year. The document is a collaboration of various human rights experts from here and abroad, and outlines various tools that can be used to formulate environmental policies that are responsive to the needs of children.
BAN Toxics believes that the promotion and defense of children’s rights should be a priority at all times. Let’s all do what we can to protect our children!
Learn more about our donation drive here: bit.ly/bt-endchildlabor
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Note to editor:
[1] World Health Organization (n.d.). International programme on chemical safety. Retrieved from: https://www.who.int/ipcs/highlights/children_chemicals/en/
For more information, please contact
Melendre Heidyl Dela Torre, Communications Officer
melendre@bantoxics.org | 09175142956