Esmeralda, a 16-year-old from Huancavelica, will represent the children and adolescents of Peru at the upcoming international forum to present the General Comment on the Rights of the Child and the Environment with a special focus on Climate Change (General Comment No. 26). This event is scheduled for September 18th at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

Esmeralda will be the only Peruvian child participating in this international summit organized by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, one of the most significant global events. She will do so as a delegate of the Latin American Movement of Working Children, Adolescents, and Youth (MOLACNNATS), an organization that brings together youth from ten countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

"This will be a space where the voices of Andean and Amazonian children in Latin America and the Caribbean can be heard regarding climate change and the environmental crisis, and how these changes affecting our mother nature impact the lives of everyone, but especially children and adolescents worldwide", Esmeralda said.

General Comment No. 26 is an official United Nations guide on how the environmental crisis affects the rights of children. This instrument, mandatory for Peru, includes standards and measures to ensure that governments guarantee the right of children to live in a clean, healthy, and sustainable world.

CHILDREN'S PARTICIPATION

Esmeralda works with her family in agriculture and learned about land care from them while assisting in the family business, selling food, and teaching school courses to children. She has been involved with the group of working children in Huancavelica since she was 10 years old.

Currently, she is a delegate of the National Movement of Organized Working Children and Adolescents of Peru (MNNATSOP) and has participated in various initiatives promoted by Save the Children to ensure that the voices of children are heard and considered. This includes hearings on climate change, inequality, and food security within the framework of the global campaign "Generation Hope."

Esmeralda, along with 11 children from around the world, is part of the group of expert advisors of all ages, experiences, and backgrounds who helped create and guide the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child in the development and dissemination of General Comment 26. This child advisory team will present the World Charter that reflects the main needs and messages of children and young people worldwide regarding their rights, the environment, and climate change.