Menu
On World Environment Day and under the slogan “Express your action for the World” Save the Children and the civil organization Chicos.Net launch the 3rd edition of the Zoom to your Rights contest, for children and adolescents in Latin America and the Caribbean to express their concerns and demands about the environment and climate change through art and technology.
This year’s proposal is for participants to express through a video their right to live in a healthy environment and to transmit their opinions and proposals to decision makers in their countries, the region and the world. They will be invited to identify an environmental problem that concerns and/or affects them, and to tell us their ideas for solving it. In the current context, the contest proposes an alternative for children and adolescents to connect remotely, to work in groups through digital channels and to continue to raise their voices despite being in isolation.
“The climate crisis is affecting the most vulnerable children, and their rights to survive, learn and be protected are being threatened. At Save the Children we are committed to make the necessary efforts to address this issue and above all to make children’s voices heard, involving them in actions to address this crisis in their communities, countries and globally,” said Victoria Ward, Save the Children’s Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Climate change and environmental degradation threaten the present and future livelihood, health, safety and well-being of children and adolescents. Their right to an adequate standard of living is also threatened due to the loss of biodiversity, increasing the risk of climate-related disasters.
Air and water pollution, the emission of toxic substances and hazardous chemicals, and the accumulation of waste have detrimental effects on children, especially the most vulnerable.
“Children and adolescents are the protagonists of the change that our planet needs. That is why this contest aims, through their participation and their demands, to challenge national and local decision makers to adopt and apply the principles of environmental sustainability”, said Andrea Urbas, Director of Chicos.net.
“Zoom on your Rights” is an initiative promoted since 2018 by both organizations in the framework of the Civil Society Support Program for Latin America and the Caribbean (PASC). To date, the contest has led to the production of 260 videos, with the direct participation of 1,500 children from all over the region.
The jury that will evaluate this year’s video submissions is composed of: Esmeralda Arosemena de Troitiño (Commissioner of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), Luis Pedernera (President of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, Joaquín Leguía (Founder of the association ANIA), Ulla Armyr (Director for Latin America of Save the Children Sweden), Mariela Reiman (Founding Partner and Program Director of Chicos.net), Chiara Sacchi (Member of Youth for Climate and Slow Food), Yiddy Kester (Spokesperson for Fridays For Future Peru. Latin American Coordinator of Raíces Libres – member of Polluters Out) and Bruno Rodríguez (Member of Youth for Climate).
This year’s edition of the contest has the support and collaboration of the ANIA Foundation of Peru and the Jóvenes por el Clima Argentina collective.
More information about the 2020 Competition at www.concursozoom.org
Inquiries: concursozoom@chicos.net
About Chicos.net
Chicos.net is a non-profit civil organization committed to promoting the safe, responsible and meaningful use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), fostering the full exercise of rights by children and adolescents in cyberspace. Its approach seeks to include ICTs as facilitators of access to information and quality content, education, social and school inclusion, and the right to expression and participation. For twenty years and in collaboration with other organizations, public agencies and the private sector, it has been promoting research, studies, training and programs aimed at improving the quality of life of young people at the national and Latin American level.
About Save the Children
Save the Children believes that every child deserves a future. In Latin America and the Caribbean, and around the world, we work every day to give children a good start in life, as well as the opportunity to learn and be protected from violence or other harm. When a crisis hits, and children are most vulnerable, we are always among the first to respond and the last to leave. We ensure that your unique needs are met and your voices are heard. We do whatever it takes for children, every day and in times of crisis, to transform their lives and the future we share.
The Support Program for Civil Society (PASC)
is a Save the Children regional program that, through the strengthening of civil society, aims to contribute to the fulfillment of the rights of children and adolescents in Latin America and the Caribbean. We advocate for good governance with the civic participation of civil society and, above all, of children and adolescents themselves as agents of change. The program is made up of 17 partner organizations working in 10 countries and collaborating with Save the Children, including organizations led by children and adolescents. www.pasc-lac.org
