Tobacco poses risks to children’s survival, health and development. Protecting children from tobacco smoke is essential to helping them survive and thrive. Children exposed to tobacco smoke are at an increased risk of a range of diseases and are more likely to take up smoking themselves. Enabling children to grow up free from the dangers of tobacco and nicotine is a key aspect of providing clean, safe and secure environments. Comprehensive smoke-free policies positively impact child health and development.

This webinar convened by the World Health Organization in collaboration with the International Pediatric Association and the ECD Action Network, probes further into the Thematic Brief "Tobacco control for children’s health and development" and provides examples of how comprehensive smoke-free policies positively impact child health and development.

This webinar will review the health risks that tobacco and second-hand smoke poses to children, starting from the prenatal period, and the strong protective effects of tobacco control measures. The webinar will provide an overview of World Health Organization’s package of proven effective measures, MPOWER, and include examples of how countries are taking action to create smoke-free environments.

Watch the recording on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcujtbRr4vk  

The threat posed to children and their rights by the climate crisis is not theoretical: it is real, and it is urgent. Save the Children has partnered with an international team of leading climate researchers led by the Vrije Universiteit Brussel to quantify the extent to which children will experience extreme weather events as a manifestation of climate change, the disparities between generations, and the widening inequality between high-income and low- and middle-income countries.

Without drastic mitigation action to reduce emissions and limit warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, led by high-income and high-emitting countries and informed by children’s best interests and identified priorities, the children of these low- and middle-income countries will be burdened with the most dangerous impacts of the climate crisis. They have inherited a problem not of their own making.

The window of opportunity to make a difference for children is quickly closing. Commitments to climate action and financing remain dangerously inadequate, and unless global leaders scale up their ambition now, current and future generations of children will suffer.

This report has been developed with the support of a dedicated Child Reference Group, comprised of 12 children aged between 12–17 years old from across the globe, to lay out how the intergenerational impacts of climate change are infringing on children’s rights to life, education, and protection.

The full report and executive summary are also made available in other languages at Save the Children's Resource Centre . 

Source: Save the Children 2021, Born into the Climate Crisis: Why we must act now to secure children’s rights, accessed 30 September 2021, <https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/library/born-climate-crisis-why-we-must-act-now-secure-childrens-rights?_ga=2.217569558.1490589562.1632999404-1425424107.1632999404>

Summary: This evidence into action brief summarises the state of research on the topic of urban air pollution in low- and middle-income countries and its impacts on children, and proposes ideas for action. Air pollution is a major global health challenge to which children are particularly vulnerable. In this briefing, the authors summarise the literature on this topic, focusing on low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). There are indoor and outdoor sources of air pollution and these pollutants can remain in the local area or be transported vast distances. Therefore, to reduce air pollution emissions and exposure to pollution, action is needed at local, national and international levels. In many cases, these actions can contribute to achieving multiple other sustainable development goals, including climate change mitigation. An integrated approach to action is needed, involving collaboration with community members, planners and policymakers. 

• Invest in regulatory air pollution monitoring stations and provide training on data management and how to interpret the data. This will highlight the extent of pollution in places where monitoring is lacking.

• Support the development of air quality management systems (including air-quality regulations and standards on emissions) to monitor and reduce air pollution, particularly in urban areas.

• Develop citizen science monitoring programmes to fill the gaps in monitoring. Scientists and community members should work together to answer scientific questions, collect data and co-design awareness-raising campaigns at community level. 

• Work with governments to integrate air pollution into climate change targets. Many sources of greenhouse gases are also sources of air pollutants. LMICS can increase their mitigation ambitions, meet international targets and achieve local development benefits through improved air quality.

Highlights: Nutritious food in the earliest years of life is the cornerstone of a child’s development. Yet 2 in 3 children between the ages of 6 months to two years are not getting the nutritious diets they need to grow well.

For the first time, UNICEF’s flagship report examines the latest data and evidence on the status, trends and inequities in the diets of young children aged 6–23 months, and the barriers to nutritious, safe and age-appropriate diets.

New analysis presented in the global report shows that the world is failing to feed children well during the time in their lives when it matters most – before two years of age. It draws on a range of evidence sources, including regional analyses and real-life experiences of mothers across different countries, to highlight the most salient barriers to good diets for young children. The report outlines key actions for decision makers to make nutritious diets a reality for every child.

The brief is also available in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic. For more information and resources, please visit: https://www.unicef.org/reports/fed-to-fail-child-nutrition