Representatives of various child rights organizations and academic institutions from 22 countries joined this year’s Asia Pacific Partnership Meeting of Child Rights Coalitions and Networks (APPM) held on 23-25 July 2019 in Bangkok, Thailand.

Since 2015, Child Rights Coalition Asia (CRC Asia) has been organizing the APPM to contribute to improving the understanding of emerging child rights issues and situations, develop ideas to strengthen child rights advocacy, and engage with child rights stakeholders at the national and regional levels, including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Commission on the Promotion and the Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC).

This year’s meeting served as a venue to learn about emerging issues as well as good practices at the regional, national, and local levels through the sharing of the speakers and the participants. The coming together centers on cross-cutting issues and concerns that are crucial in the realization of children’s rights in the Region which includes justice for children, public budgeting for children, children’s rights and the environment, children in the digital environment, and the discussions on the ongoing efforts for the upcoming 30th United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) Anniversary and the assessment of the previous and forthcoming APPMs.

 

Children’s Rights in the Digital Environment

International child-led actions and movements are gaining ground because of children and young people’s and access to digital media and their online connection with other individuals across countries and regions. The use of digital media has already been embedded in the lives of children and young people, being the so-called “digital natives.” Increasing online connectivity poses both benefits and risks to children. On the one hand, it allows them to gain access to information, education, communication, entertainment, and culture. On the other, it can be a platform on which violence against children perpetuates.

In response to this, the Committee decided in 2018 to develop General Comment No. 25 on children’s rights in relation to the digital environment (GC 25). This will clarify how this rapidly evolving environment impacts on the full range of children’s rights in positive and negative ways. The GC will help strengthen the case for greater action and elaborate on what measures are required by States to meet their obligations to promote and protect children’s rights in and through the digital environment and to ensure that other actors, including business enterprises, meet their responsibilities.[1]

Ms. Jinyi Park, Advocacy Adviser for Global Advocacy and Partnership of ChildFund Korea served as the moderator for the APPM session on children’s rights in the digital environment.

Mr. Anjan Bose and Ms. Maria Luissa Sotomayor, Child Protection Specialist and Communications and Advocacy Specialist for Digital Safety at the UNICEF Headquarters in New York, respectively, joined the discussion via video call and discussed the snapshot of the findings from the 2017 UNICEF State of the World’s Children Report: Children in a Digital World [download the e-copy here] and the Institution’s advocacy goal and priority actions.

The report showed how digital technology is changing childhood. While connectivity poses risks and harms to children’s safety, privacy, and well-being, such as exposure to violent images, sexual abuse and exploitation victimization, cyberbullying and harassment, among others, there are also opportunities for enhanced learning, social inclusion, new relationships, and now more than ever, for improved civil participation as social media serves as a platform for children to amplify their voices and seek solutions to problems affecting them and their communities.

Atty. Mikiko Otani, a member of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child shared the UNCRC Guidelines on the implementation of the  Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (OPSC). The Guidelines aim at fostering a deeper understanding of the substantive provisions of the OPSC and of the various modern forms of sale and sexual exploitation in light of developments in the digital environment as well as of the increased knowledge and experience developed with regard to the sale and sexual exploitation of children since its adoption; enabling a more effective implementation of the OPSC by State parties; and ensuring that the OPSC remains an instrument that enhances the protection of children from the sale and sexual exploitation, whether facilitated by Information-Communication Technology (ICT) or not.

Mr. Wanchai Roujanayong, the Chair and Thailand’s Representative on Children’s Rights, ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC) and shared the effort of the ASEAN in coming up with the Declaration on the Protection of Children from All Forms of Online Exploitation and Abuse, anchored on various State goals and commitments such as the UNCRC, Sustainable Development Goals, ASEAN Human Rights Declaration, among others. The ACWC workshop on child online exploitation in Bangkok in 2017 and the Senior Officials Meeting on Social Welfare and Development (SOMSWD) Cross-sectoral Conference on child online sexual exploitation in Indonesia in 2018 both led to the resolution to establish the said Declaration. The Declaration seeks to address the “borderless nature of the production and sharing of online child sexual abuse material are dangers to vulnerable children. According to Mr. Roujanayong, the target timeframe for the adoption of the Declaration is from 31 October to 4 November 2019 during the 35th ASEAN Summit in Bangkok.

To cap the session off, Ms. Amal Salman Aldoseri, also a member of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, shared via video call the updates on the drafting of the UN CRC General Comment (GC) on children’s rights in the digital environment.

30th Anniversary of the UNCRC

Ms. Emma Grindulis, Programme Officer at Child Rights Connect, a global network working for the realization of children’s rights which advocates for and supports the full implementation of the CRC by convening and engaging with civil society and other relevant actors, shared the highlights of their organizations’ Global Study on the CRC reporting process (click to read the full report), citing key challenges and recommendations on civil society and children’s participation in reporting to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.

The Global Study affirmed the critical role of national coalitions and recommends that in order to achieve effective CRC reporting, national coalitions need to be strong and inclusive, speaking with one voice with members reinforcing each other’s work; engaged in the full reporting cycle based on a long-term advocacy plan; using the CRC reporting cycle with the awareness of and engagement in the Committee’s other areas of work such as individual communications, general comments, days of general discussion, Committee elections, and child participation; using CRC reporting in connection with other UN human rights mechanisms including other treaty bodies, Universal Periodic Review, Human Rights Council, Special Rapporteurs and the SDGs and with regional mechanisms; and empowering children through CRC reporting and the Committee’s standards to become human rights defenders.

Ms. Grindulis also shared other activities in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the UN CRC. The information on Child Rights Connect’s initiatives can be read here.

CRC Asia Secretariat shared the proposed regional social media campaign for the 30th UN CRC Anniversary. The global commemoration is an opportunity to harvest lessons learned, bring advocates together towards the strengthening of the child rights movement, draw global attention, and sound the alarm on children’s rights. CRC Asia will be initiating a social media initiative in the region in support of the global initiatives happening year-round and in response to the suggestions during the 2018 APPM to have a regional-level campaign. The campaign will be done mainly through mainstream social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Using an elected unifying #hashtag, the campaign will focus on moving forward by looking back on the gaps that should be addressed. Children and young people will be asked to post a one-minute video to answer the following question/s:

What are your dreams for children’s rights and why? What are some of the things that need to happen to achieve that dream?

The videos can be collated to be shown during the planned 2019 Asian Children’ Summit in Bangkok at the end of November 2019.

Children’s Rights and the Environment

In recent years, the world has seen children and young people providing their own responses to the climate crisis. Children and youth have led advocacies and campaigns on nature conservation, reducing pollution, and developing ideas for sustainable lifestyles. One of the latest of these is the Global Climate School Strikes or #Fridays4Future, a movement of students who choose not to attend classes and instead take part in demonstrations that demand climate action.

Environmental harm affects the full enjoyment of the vast range of the rights of children. The conditions of the environment in which children are born, live, learn, and play impact a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes [3]. Climate change, perceived as one of the biggest global environmental threats, shows increasing evidence of the direct impact on children such as climate-related disasters, water scarcity, and undernutrition. More than others, children – including children with disabilities, children on the move, children living in poverty, children separated from their families and indigenous children – are among the most vulnerable to these adverse effects of climate change [4].

In 2016, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment issued a report describing the “silent pandemic” of disability and disease associated with childhood exposure to toxins and pollution and explaining the obligations of States and the responsibilities of business enterprises to protect against such exposure. With inputs from the UN CRC 2016 Day of General Discussion, the Special Rapporteur also recommended that the Committee should consider adopting a new general comment on children’s rights and the environment.

The United Nations General Assembly Human Rights Council on 20 March 2019 came out with a resolution recognizing the contribution of environmental human rights defenders to the enjoyment of human rights, environmental protection, and sustainable development. Calling on states to “respect, protect and fulfill human rights, including in all actions undertaken to address environmental challenges, including the rights to life and to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, to an adequate standard of living, to adequate food and housing, to safe drinking water and sanitation, and cultural rights, and to human rights as they relate to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment,” (14a) among others. Another important provision to note, promoting the participation and engagement of children and young people, is that States are also called upon by the resolution to provide a safe and empowering context for initiatives organized by young people and children to defend human rights relating to the environment (14e).[2] The next discussion on children’s rights and a healthy environment in the year 2020 is another relevant international process being anticipated. This also signals an opportunity to raise the alarm and influence States to take action towards a healthy environment for children.

The session moderator, Ms. Billy Wong, the Executive Secretary of the Hongkong Committee on Children’s Rights first introduced Mr. Jonas Schubert, Child Rights Officer at Terre des Hommes. Mr. Schubert shared an overview of the children’s rights to a healthy environment.

According to Mr. Schubert, environmental damage is a pressing human rights challenge, which has an impact on a wide range of aspects of children’s lives today and in the future. Violations of children’s rights resulting from environmental harm can have irreversible, lifelong and even transgenerational consequences. Certain groups of children, including children from indigenous, low-income or other marginalized communities are often at a higher risk, which raises the question of environmental injustice

Ms. Emma Grindulis shared the Human Right Council’s (HRC) resolution in March 2019 on the contribution of human rights defenders (HRDs) to the enjoyment of human rights environmental protection and sustainable development and the 2020 Annual Day on the Rights of the Child (ADRC) on “Realizing children’s rights through a healthy environment”

Ms. Wanun Permpibul, Director of Climate Watch Thailand provided an overview of the environmental challenges in Asia and the impacts of climate change, looking through a child lens. Ms. Permpibul’s sharing highlighted the combinations of natural and anthropogenic (i.e. human-induced) forcings that cause global temperature change.

The impacts of climate change in Asia that will most likely affect children are daunting: exacerbated poverty, inequalities, and new vulnerabilities; increased risk of drought-related water and food shortage causing malnutrition, increased coastal, riverine and urban flooding leading to widespread damage to infrastructure and settlements; increased risk of crop failure and lower crop production could lead to food insecurity, Coral reef decline, Mountain-top extinctions, among others.

Ms. Permpibul concluded that the impact of environmental degradation has not been realized. Climate change should be seen as an urgent development issue, requiring development justice. Another point for discussion for child rights advocates is how to make a paradigm shift in financing for climate change mitigation, resilience, and adaptation.

Ms. Seonmi Choi, Regional Advisor on Environment and Climate Change at UNICEF East Asia and the Pacific Regional Office (EAPRO) provided a reaction to the presentations, presented UNICEF approach for accelerating climate and environmental action for children, and shared the highlights of UNICEF publication ‘Unless We Act Now: The Impact of Climate Change on Children.’ The report shows the vulnerabilities of children who are the most vulnerable to climate impacts and environmental degradation and will bear the brunt of climate change far longer than adults. Some of the recommendations towards addressing climate impacts are the following: enhancing data and improving the evidence base, increase strategies to ensure continued education under a climate change scenario, improve learning to address climate change impacts and empower children to be agents of change, and systems strengthening strategies which include an intersectoral collaboration of relevant government agencies and stakeholders and improved accessibility of climate and contingent financing specific to the education sector to deal with climate-related disasters and integrate climate change adaptation into education sector planning.

Justice for Children

Children may come in contact with the justice systems as victims; as witnesses of crimes or cases related to custody and care; or through being in conflict with the law. In any case, measures should be in place to reduce children’s vulnerability and ensure the enjoyment of their rights. In the Asian region, several efforts have been made to ensure that children have access to a functional child-friendly justice system. Recently, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, in partnership with stakeholders, set up its first-ever child protection court in March 2019. The court is designed to handle child protection and welfare cases related to violations, legal custody, reunification, and the properties of children who are orphaned. It also handles cases of children in conflict with the law, aiming to provide a reformative approach to juvenile justice.

Implementing appropriate measures for children in conflict with the law is one of the areas that, according to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, “States parties still have a long way to go in achieving full compliance.” For instance, 13 countries in the world allow children to be sentenced to death, and 33 countries allow corporal punishment, including whipping or amputation. Additionally, detention and institutionalization of children in conflict with the law are still considered as the first response and not as a last resort. This deprivation of liberty within the administration of justice is one of the focus areas of the on-going Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty, which aims to assess the magnitude; document good practices, experiences, and views; raise awareness, and provide recommendations to safeguard the rights of children concerned. Moreover, the Committee has expressed concern over the moves of States to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR).[3] In Southeast Asia, only three out of ten ASEAN Member States have a MACR above 12 years old, the acceptable MACR set by the Committee in the UN CRC General Comment No. 10 (2007) Children’s rights in juvenile justice (GC 10).

In 2018, the Committee decided to update GC 10 to reflect developments and address negative trends relating to juvenile justice. The upcoming UN CRC General Comment No. 24, replacing GC 10, seeks to emphasize the UN CRC requirement to develop and implement a comprehensive juvenile justice policy; provide clarity on the setting of a minimum age of criminal responsibility, the upper age limit of the juvenile justice system, and related matters; encourage the establishment and full implementation of alternative measures that can be applied at all stages of the process; ensure the guarantees for a fair trial for children who are not diverted to alternative measures; and ensure the application of appropriate dispositions for children who are convicted and the avoidance of deprivation of liberty, except as a measure of last resort, and if used, for the shortest appropriate period of time and in appropriate conditions.

For the session on Juvenile Justice, Prof. Manfred Nowak, Independent Expert for the UN Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty, through a recorded video message, shared updates on the Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty (uploaded on the Facebook Page of the NGO Panel for the Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty here)

Atty. Mikiko Otani, who discussed the implementation of the UN CRC Guidelines on the Implementation of OPSC, then talked about the drafting of UN CRC General Comment (GC) 24, which replaces GC 10, on Children’s Rights in the child justice system. The GC addresses the need to clarify the Committee’s position on the minimum age of criminal responsibility and provides for an opportunity to promote some important policies, reflect the development and address new issues. Among the key points are the following: replacement of the long-used terminology “juvenile justice” into “child justice system,” setting a higher minimum age of criminal responsibility, promotion of diversion of a child throughout the proceedings, and the direction towards building a multi-disciplinary, comprehensive child justice system and setting up of child justice courts.

Dr. Seree Nonthasoot, Former Representative of Thailand to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), discussed AICHR’s thematic study on juvenile justice in ASEAN. The study, currently in the pipeline, aims to provide a comprehensive regional report on the practices and conduct of interrogation by officials toward children in conflict with the law (CICL) and to share/learning good practices on the same within the jurisdiction of ASEAN Member States.

CRC Asia members shared national initiatives towards justice for children. Executive Director of Group Development Pakistan Ms. Valerie Khan, shared the case of setting up the first child protection court in Khyber Pakhtunkhawa province. The documentary on presenting the good practices of establishing Peshawar Child Court can be watched here.

The session moderator was Mr. Ilya Smirnoff, Executive Director of Childline Thailand.

Public Budgeting for Children

Government budgets are the clear articulation of a country’s priorities. Mobilizing sufficient financing remains a major challenge in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030. In addition to the challenge of underfunded SDGs, integrated financing framework and plans, including public financial management systems addressing the growing inequality and vulnerabilities, should also respond to these challenges.[1] The Article 4 of the UNCRC mandates Governments to “take measures within their budget processes to generate revenue and manage expenditures in a way that is sufficient to realize the rights of the child.” The UN CRC General Comment No. 19 (2016) on public budgeting for the realization of child rights (GC 19) recognizes that having sufficient resources for realizing children’s rights can be achieved through the exercise of principles of public budgeting for children’s rights: effectiveness, efficiency, equity, transparency, and sustainability.

Since the issuance of GC 19, the advocacy for public budgeting for children’s rights has been gaining momentum. However, it is worth noting that the efforts on this have been on-going and several civil society organizations in Asia have had experience in influencing the public budgeting process to put child rights at the forefront of governance.

Session moderator Mr. Christopher Peñales, Focal Point, Mindanao Action Group for Children’s Rights and Protection, emphasized the importance of ensuring that child rights programs get the needed funding for implementation and realization.

Recently, CRC Asia has been engaged in child rights public budgeting advocacy in the Philippines. Ms. Luz Indah Abayan, Policy Advocacy Officer at CRC Asia, shared the Coalitions’ efforts and the development of resource material on public budgeting for children’s rights, envisioned to help equip and empower child rights advocates in engaging the various levels of the Philippine Public Finance Management (PFM) System. The Resource Material also aims to empower the child and human rights CSOs and the actors in the PFM System to speak the same language. This is one way for CSOs to ensure that the “language of children’s rights” is understood by duty-bearers.

In terms of local advocacy, Mr. Marc Joseph Alejo, Convenor and President of CRC Coalition Philippines shared the baseline study on the allocation and expenditures on child protection in the Philippines, showing that after analyzing the programs, activities, and projects for children by way of clustering into the four categories of children’s rights: survival, development, protection, and participation. The findings show that of these four categories, children’s budgets in the local government study sites for child protection are low, even falling short of the mandated 1% of a local government’s Internal Revenue Allotment (example of vertical intergovernmental fiscal transfer from national to sub-national level), while there is no budget allocation for child participation. Investments in the strengthening of prevention programs and the conduct of child rights situational analysis (CRSA) to facilitate the development of child responsive programs, among others, were among the recommendations to the national and subnational/local government units.

Mr. Ali Aulia Ramly, Child Protection Specialist, UNICEF Indonesia, shared via video call another example of work on public budgeting for children at the national level. Mr. Ramly discussed Child Protection Financial Benchmarking in East Java and South Sulawesi, Indonesia. The result of financial benchmarking at the central government level and in the three provinces in Indonesia shows that child protection expenditures, especially that of prevention services, are low. A little reprioritization of funding from other sectors of government can make a significant difference to CP services, a need to strengthen the cross-government policy frameworks for CP services, more robust, evidence-based coordination in budget processes may be required, the data provide an opportunity to identify gaps in service delivery, or the financing of services, particularly with regards to preventative services and to some types of harm, are recommended to the policymakers.

For both the Philippines and Indonesia, the availability for collection of appropriate budget allocation and expenditure data could significantly strengthen the confidence with which conclusions on expenditure can be drawn. In addition, budget coding for programs, activities, and projects for child protection should be advocated at the national level, as well as the indicators that can capture rights-based child protection interventions from which the coding will be based.

Dato Junaidi A. Rahman, Brunei Darussalam’s Representative on Children’s Rights in ACWC, provided his reactions, insights, and recommendations. He emphasized the need for sustained and long term support to sustain child protection operations that should primarily be government-funded. He mentioned that government expenditures allocated to an agency or agencies (public or private) to uphold the rights of children are dependent on political will in providing protection for children, the capability to disburse funds (PFM systems and absorptive capacity), and the gravity of issues related to children affecting social order.

Dato Junaidi shared that ACWC, commit to understanding how respective governments play their roles in regard to the issue at hand and that a project entitled Public Budgeting for the Rights of Women and Children in ASEAN has been proposed, with the aim of developing a regional effort to promote and ensure public investment in children, as mandated by the UNCRC, Optional Protocols, and GC 19.

Participants’ sharing of most innovative programs

The APPM participants were asked to share their answers to this question: What is the most innovative program/effort your organization has done to advance children’s rights?

1. Childline Thailand – Ms. Opor Srisuwan
2. CWIN Nepal – Mr. Madhav Pradhan
3. Group Development Pakistan – Ms. Valerie Khan
4. Children’s Rights New Zealand – Dr. Lisa Shamseldin
5. eHelp Association – Mr. David Ng
6. Yayasan KKSP (Indonesia) – Ms. Sri Eni Purnamawati
7. India Alliance on Child Rights (representing PROTSAHAN – Ms. Sonal Kapoor, Child Rights & You – Ms. Priti Mahara, People’s Cultural Centre [PECUC] – Mr. Ranjan Kumar Mohanty) – Ms. Razia Ismail
8. Beijing Children’s Legal Aid and Research Center – Ms. Anna Niu
9. ChildFund Australia Representative in Laos (including Vietnam) – Ms. Keoamphone Souvannaphoum
10. General Research Institute on the CRC – Mr. Yuji Kamori
11. Village Focus International (Lao PDR) – Ms. Kongseng Piengpanya
12. SAFE Foundation (Sri Lanka) – Mr. Nandana Harsha Jayaratna
13. Protect and Save the Children – Ms. Hafidzah binti Hj Abdul Halim
14. CRC Cambodia – Mr. Penh Son
15. Vietnam Association for the Protection of Children’s Rights – Ms. Thu Ha Nguyen
16. CRC Coalition Philippines (including Coalition member Educo Ms. Olga Rodriguez and Ms. Grekka Sarmiento) – Mr. Marc Alejo
17. MKM Brunei – Dr. Kamariah Abu Salim
18. Equality Myanmar – Ms. Aye Aye
19. Singapore Children’s Society – Mr. Joses Kuan
20. NTU Children and Family Research Center – Mr. Yun-Ting Cai
21. ECPAT Taiwan – Ms. Yuhsuan Chien
22. University of the Philippines Human Rights Institute – Atty. Daniel Lising
23. The Life Skills Development Foundation – Mr. Kreangkrai Chaimuangdee
24. ChildFund Korea – Ms. Jinyi Park
25. Yayasan SEJIWA (Indonesia) – Ms. Deina Haryana
26. Mindanao Action Group for Children’s Rights and Protection – Mr. Christopher Peñales
27. Hong Kong Committee on Children’s Rights – Ms. Billy Wong

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Presentations were done in between sessions. The last APPM session concentrated on various workshops such as inputs to the children’s rights in the digital environment experts meeting that will be held in October 2019, and the workshop on the assessment of CRC Asia’s annual Asia-Pacific Partnership Meetings of Child Rights Coalitions and Networks.

Participants from South Asia, East Asia and the Pacific, and Southeast Asia had the opportunity to have sub-regional discussions during the workshops on thematic issues. According to the participants, the sessions were helpful spaces for subregional cooperation planning.

The APPM was also participated in by international NGO partners from Ms. Sudthida Keophaithool from Plan International, Ms. Amy Lamoin from UNICEF Australia, Ms. Katherine Yee from World Vision and Ms. Olivia Burgos Meimban from Save the Children. Also present at the meeting was Ms. Yuyum Fhahni Paryani of ACWC Indonesia.

[1] COMMITTEE
ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD. Concept note for a General Comment on children’s
rights in relation to the digital environment. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRC/Pages/GCChildrensRightsRelationDigitalEnvironment.aspx

[2] United Nations, General Assembly, Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malawi, Malta, Mexico, Mongolia, Montenegro, Mozambique, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, Ukraine, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Uruguay, State of Palestine: draft resolution, Recognizing the contribution of environmental human rights defenders to the enjoyment of human rights, environmental protection and sustainable development, A/HRC/40/L.22/Rev.1 (20 March 2019) Retrieved from https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/LTD/G19/071/97/PDF/G1907197.pdf?OpenElement

[3] World Health Organization (n.d.) Health Impact Assessment: The Determinants of Health. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/hia/evidence/doh/en/ 

[4] United Nations, General Assembly, Andorra, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belgium, Egypt, El Salvador, Fiji, Germany, Haiti, Iceland, Luxembourg, Maldives, Netherlands, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Viet Nam, State of Palestine: draft resolution Human Rights and Climate Change, A/HRC/35/L.32 (19 June 2017). Retrieved from https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/LTD/G17/167/92/PDF/G1716792.pdf?OpenElement