Children campaigning to save the planet and defend human rights must be taken seriously and better protected from online smear campaigns, arrests and physical attacks, a new report by a leading UN expert has found.
Child and youth activists are at the forefront of human rights struggles globally but are routinely dismissed, excluded and denied access to support available to older activists, according to Mary Lawlor, the UN special rapporteur on human rights defenders, who interviewed nearly 100 young people from 37 countries.
Young people are particularly active in defending the climate and environment, and have spearheaded global movements such as Rise Up and Fridays for Future school strikes with Greta Thunberg in Sweden and Vanessa Nakate in Uganda, among others.
“Climate change has been a huge driver for children and young people because they see that the planet is dying from lack of action by governments all over the world. It’s something they relate to because it directly affects them,” said Lawlor, who will present the first-of-its-kind report to the UN human rights council on Tuesday.
Currently, more than half of the world’s population are under the age of 30, making it the largest generation of young people in history. Among them, some child and youth human rights defenders have been a direct victim of injustice, while others are drawn to activism by violence and other violations around them.
“Child rights defenders, especially girls and gender-nonconforming children, and including child climate activists, have been facing growing repression in many countries,” the report says.
In addition to organizing on climate and environmental issues, they are also at the forefront of campaigns to stop what they say is genocide in Gaza, end gun violence and violence against women and girls, and the fight for reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights.
In Nigeria, Mariam Oyiza Aliyu founded an organization that has helped successfully reintegrated young women held by Boko Haram into their communities, and have won 55 cases of rape in court.
In Argentina in 2018, a 15-year-old pro-choice activist was violently attacked on the street by two men, who cut her face with a razor and stated that she would be unable to walk down the street any more. They had previously threatened her on social media. In Uganda, children have been among those detained arbitrarily by police for protesting peacefully against an oil pipeline that will have devastating consequences for land, water and the climate.
In 2021, Indian authorities arrested Disha Ravi, a 21-year-old activist who volunteered for Fridays for Future, on charges including sedition and criminal conspiracy. The authorities alleged that Ravi was the “key conspirator” in editing and sharing an online toolkit – also shared by Greta Thunberg – on social media which included information to help those seeking to peacefully support ongoing farmers’ protests.
Yet Lawlor found that young human rights defenders – particularly children – are often not taken seriously, and don’t have access to things like funding or legal aid if they get into trouble.
“Children don’t have agency. They feel like the human rights community itself is very ageist, and that governments haven’t put in place proper policies and child-friendly laws that will protect them and allow them to participate in decisions that affect them.
“They are the ones looking to the future, but feel squeezed. They often do not feel heard or supported by the UN or even their own families, who can be terrified that involvement in human rights will put them in danger.”
But despite the risks, child and youth human rights defenders are mobilizing worldwide to demand change on the biggest issues concerning humanity today.
Lawlor said: “They see injustice, and they feel they have to respond.”
• This article was amended on 13 March 2024 to revise a reference to “campaigns to stop the genocide in Gaza” to attribute the assertion of genocide in Gaza to campaigners.
