Chapter 1: The Context

1 United Nations Children’s Fund, The State of the World’s Children 2002, table 1, UNICEF, New York, 2002. [return]

2 Satterthwaite, David et al., The Environment for Children, United Nations Children’s Fund and Earthscan Publication, New York, 1996. [return]

3 United Nations Children’s Fund, First Call for Children: World Declaration and Plan of Action from the World Summit for Children and The Convention on the Rights of the Child, UNICEF, New York, 1990. [return]

4 United Nations Children’s Fund, Progress since the World Summit for Children: A Statistical Review, page 2, UNICEF, New York, September 2001. [return]

5 Ibid. page 26. [return]

6 Ibid. page 5. [return]

7 Ibid. page 10. [return]

8 Grant, James P. (Executive Director of UNICEF), Address to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, United Nations Children’s Fund, New York, 1992. [return]

9 World Meteorological Organization and others, Comprehensive Assessment of the Freshwater Resources of the World, WMO, cited in UNEP, Global Environment Outlook 2000, Earthscan Publication, London, 1999. [return]

10 United Nations Secretariat of the Convention to Combat Desertification: http://www.unccd.int/main.php [return]

11 United Nations Environment Programme, Global Ministerial Environment Forum, Policy Issues: Emerging Policy Issues, Discussion paper presented by the Executive Director, UNEP/GC.21/5,18 January 2001. [return]

12 World Health Organization, Health and Environment in Sustainable Development: Five Years after the Earth Summit, WHO, Geneva, 1997. [return]

13 World Health Organization, World Health Report 1999 Database:
World and United Nations Children’s Fund, Sanitation for All: Promoting Dignity and Human Rights, UNICEF, New York, 2000. [return]

14 United Nations, Report of the Secretary General on We the Children: End-Decade Review of Follow-up to the World Summit for Children, New York, 2001. [return]

15 Ibid. [return]

16 United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), Cities in a Globalizing World – Global Report on Human Settlements 2001, Earthscan Publications, London, 2001. [return]

17 Ibid. [return]

18 United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), The State of the World’s Cities 2001, UNCHS (Habitat), 2001. [return]

19 Ibid. [return]

20 United Nations Environment Programme, Global Ministerial Environment Forum, Policy Issues: Emerging Policy Issues, op. cit. [return]


Chapter 2: A Child’s World and Life Cycle

1 World Health Organization, World Health Report 1999 Database, op. cit. [return]

2 Commission on the Nutrition Challenges of the 21st Century, Ending Malnutrition by 2020: An agenda for change in the millennium, final report to the ACC/SCN, cited in UNICEF, The State of the World’s Children 2001, UNICEF, New York, 2001. [return]

3 World Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council, Global Environmental Sanitation Initiative: Sanitation for All, an advocacy brochure, WSSC, 2000. [return]

4 World Health Organization, World Health Report 1999 Database, op. cit. [return]

5 Faustman, Elaine M. et al., “Mechanisms Underlying Children’s Susceptibility to Environmental Toxicants”, Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol.108, Suppl.1, 2000. [return]

6 Ibid. [return]

7 United Nations Children’s Fund and United Nations Environment Programme, Childhood Lead Poisoning: Information for Advocacy and Action, UNICEF and UNEP, New York, 1997. [return]

8 Schroeder, Stephen R., “Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Influenced by Environmental Neurotoxic Insults”, Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 108, Supplement 3, 2000. [return]

9 Mott, Lawrie et al., Our Children at Risk: The 5 worst environmental threats to their health, Natural Resource Defense Council, New York, 1997. [return]

10 Ibid. [return]

11 United Nations Environment Programme, United Nations Children’s Fund, World Health Organization and Food and Agriculture Organization, Childhood Pesticide Poisoning: Information for Advocacy and Action (draft), UNEP, UNICEF, WHO & FOA, New York, 2001. [return]

12 Weiss, Bernard, “Vulnerability of Children and the Developing Brain to Neurotoxic Hazards.”, Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 108, Supplement 3, 2000. [return]

13 Bloom, B.S., Stability and Change in Human Characteristics, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1964. [return]

14 Carnegie Task Force on Meeting the Needs of Young Children., Starting Points: Meeting the Needs of Our Youngest Children, Carnegie Corporation of New York, New York, 1994. [return]

15 Young, Mary Eming, Early Child Development: Investing in the Future, The World Bank, Washington, D.C., 1996. [return]

16 United Nations Children’s Fund, Sanitation for All: Promoting Dignity and Human Rights, UNICEF, New York, 2000. [return]

17 World Health Organization, World Health Report 1999 Database, op.cit. [return]

18 Children’s Environmental Health Network (CEHN): http://www.cehn.org [return]

19 Ibid. [return]

20 United States Environmental Protection Agency, The EPA Children’s Environmental Health Yearbook Supplement, EPA, Washington, D.C., 2000. [return]

21 Zahm, S.H. and S. S. Devesa, “Childhood Cancer: Overview of Incidence Trends and Environmental Carcinogens.”, Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol.103, Suppl.6, pp.177-184, 1995; Weinstein, I.B., “The Origins of Human Cancer: Molecular Mechanism of Carcinogenesis and Their Treatment,” Cancer Research, Vol.48, pp.4135-4143, 1988; National Research Council, Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children, NRC, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1993. [return]

22 United Nations Children’s Fund, The State of the World’s Children 2001, UNICEF, New York, 2001. [return]

23 Lonergan, Steve, “The Role of Environmental Degradation in Population Displacement”, Environmental Change and Security Project Report, Iss.4, pp.5-15, 1998. [download pdf file of this report] [return]

24 United Nations, Report of the Secretary General on We the Children: End-Decade Review of Follow-up to the World Summit for Children, op. cit. [return]

Chapter 3: Environmental Threats to Children

1 World Health Organization, United Nations Children’s Fund, Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council, Global Water Supply and Sanitation Assessment 2000, op. cit. [return]

2 United Nations Environment Programme, Global Environment Outlook 2000, Earthscan Publications, London, 1999. op. cit. [return]

3 Ibid. [return]

4 Ibid. [return]

5 Ibid. [return]

6 Ibid. [return]

7 World Health Organization, United Nations Children’s Fund, Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council, Global Water Supply and Sanitation Assessment 2000, op. cit. [return]

8 Vrijheid, Martine, “Health Effects of Residence Near Hazardous Waste Landfill Sites: A Review of Epidemiologic Literature”, Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 108, Suppl.1, 2000. [return]

9 Vrijheid, Martine, H. Dolk, B. Armstrong et al., “Chromosomal congenital anomalies and residence near hazardous waste landfill sites”, The Lancet, Vol. 359, pp. 320-22, 2002. The researchers studied 245 cases of children born with chromosomal defects and 2,412 healthy babies who lived near 23 landfill sites in five European countries. They concluded that people living within 1.8 miles (0-3 km) of a landfill had a higher chance of having a child with a chromosomal defect than couples living further away. However, more study is needed to fully understand the exact role of chemical pollutants. [return]

10 World Health Organization, United Nations Children’s Fund, Water Supply and Sanitation Assessment, Global Water Supply and Sanitation Assessment 2000, op. cit. [return]

11 World Health Organization, United Nations Children’s Fund, Water Supply and Sanitation Assessment, Global Water Supply and Sanitation Assessment 2000, op. cit. [return]

12 Ibid. [return]

13 Ibid. [return]

14 United Nations Children’s Fund, Sanitation for All: Promoting Dignity and Human Rights, op. cit. [return]

15 World Health Organization, World Health Report 1999 Database, op. cit. [return]

16 Ibid. [return]

17 United Nations Children’s Fund, Rolling Back Malaria, UNICEF, New York, 1999. [return]

18 Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, Health and Sustainable Development: Report of the Secretary General to the Commission on Sustainable Development, Economic and Social Council, E/CN.17/2001, New York, 2001. [return]

19 Gubler, Duane J., “Resurgent Vector-Borne Diseases as a Global Health Problem”, Emerging Infectious Diseases, Vol.4, No.3, 1998. [return]

20 World Health Organization, Health and Environment in Sustainable Development: Five Years after the Earth Summit, table 5.14, WHO, Geneva, 1997. [return]

21 United Nations Children’s Fund, presentation of Kul C. Gautam to the Second Substantive Session of the Preparatory Committee of the Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Children, UNICEF, New York, 2001. [return]

22 Environmental Health Project (sponsored by United States Agency for International Development), Preventing Child Diarrhoeal Disease – Options for Action, Washington, D.C, 1999. [return]

23 Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, Health and Sustainable Development: Report of the Secretary General to the Commission on Sustainable Development, op. cit. [return]

24 World Resources Institute, United Nations Environment Programme, United Nations Development Programme, World Bank, World Resources 1998-1999 A Guide to the Global Environment: Environmental Change and Human Health, Oxford University Press, New York, 1998. [return]

25 Trichiasis, an eye condition caused by chronic inflammation of the inner eyelid, characterised by shrinking eyelid, inward turning of eyelashes, and cornea scraping. [return]

26 Wolfson, Elaine M. and Lori Fedewa, Stacie A. Young, Trachoma: A Women’s Health Issue, (revised), Global Alliance for Women’s Health, New York, 1999. [return]

27 World Health Organization, Strengthening Interventions to Reduce Helminth Infections: As an Entry Point for the Development of Health-Promoting Schools, WHO Information Series on School Health, Doc.1, Geneva, 1997. [return]

28 World Health Organization, Water for Health: Taking Charge, WHO, Geneva, 2001. [return]

29 Ibid. [return]

30 United Nations Children’s Fund, Rolling Back Malaria, op. cit. [return]

31 World Health Organization, World Health Report 1999 Database, op. cit. [return]

32 Wargo, John, Our Children’s Toxic Legacy, Yale University Press, New Haven, cited in World Resources Institute, United Nations Environment Programme, United Nations Development Programme, and World Bank, World Resources 1998-1999 A Guide to the Global Environment: Environmental Change and Human Health, 1998. [return]

33 United Nation’s Children’s Fund, Rolling Back Malaria, op. cit. [return]

34 Okenu, Daniel M.N., “An Integrated Approach for Malaria Control in Africa”, Malaria and Infectious Disease in Africa, 10: 4-13, 1999. http://www.malaria.org/OkenuMalariaControl.html [return]

35 Kit, Lam Sai, “Japanese encephalitis,” Malaysian Medical Association Newsletter, Vol.29, No.1, January, 1999. http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/2188/jelsk.html [return]

36 Gubler, Duane J., “Resurgent Vector-Borne Diseases as a Global Health Problem,” Emerging Infectious Diseases, Vol. 4, No.3, 1998. [return]

37 World Health Organization, Water for Health: Taking Charge, op. cit. [return]

38 Esrey, S.A. et al., “Effects of improved water supply and sanitation on ascaris, diarrhoea, dracunculiasis, hookworm infection, schistosomiasis, and trachoma”, Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 69(5):609-621, 1991. [return]

39 World Health Organization, Water for Health: Taking Charge, op. cit. [return]

40 United States Environmental Protection Agency: http://www.epa.gov/safewater/kids/child.html [return]

41 World Health Organization, Water for Health: Taking Charge, op. cit. [return]

42 Ibid. [return]

43 United Nations Environment Programme, Global Ministerial Environment Forum, Policy Issues: Emerging Policy Issues, op. cit. [return]

44 World Resources Institute, United Nations Environment Programme, United Nations Develop Programme, World Bank, World Resources 1998-1999 A Guide to the Global Environment: Environmental Change and Human Health, op. cit. [return]

45 Ibid. [return]

46 Satterthwaite et al, The Environment for Children, op. cit. [return]

47 United Nations Children’s Fund and United Nations Environment Programme, Childhood Lead Poisoning: Information for Advocacy and Action, op. cit. [return]

48 Walsh, Michael, “The Global Phaseout of Leaded Gasoline: A Successful Initiative,” Earth Summit Watch, 1999. http://www.earthsummitwatch.org/gasoline.html. [return]

49 Ibid. [return]

50 Myers, Gary J. and Philip W. Davidson, “Does Methylmercury Have a Role in Causing Developmental Disabilities in Children?”, Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol.108, Suppl.3, 2000. [return]

51 United State Environmental Protection Agency, Press Release: http://www.epa.gov/mercury/fish.htm [return]

52 Myers, Gary J. and Philip W. Davidson, “Does Methylmecury Have a Role in Causing Disabilities in Children?” Environment Health Perspectives, op. cit. [return]

53 Ibid. [return]

54 United Nations Environment Programme, Global Environment Outlook 2000, op. cit. [return]

55 Ibid. [return]

56 Food and Agriculture Organization, FAOSTAT Statistics Database, FAO, Rome, Italy, 1997. http://www.fao.org [return]

57 United Nations Environment Programme, Global Environment Outlook 2000, op. cit. [return]

58 The information used in this paragraph is from several common sources, such as the US EPA Web site and medical handbooks. [return]

59 United Nations Children’s Fund, Arsenic Mitigation in Bangladesh – Media Brief, UNICEF Bangladesh, Dhaka, 2000. [return]

60 Ibid. [return]

61 World Health Organization, World Water Day 2001: http://www.worldwaterday.org/thematic/natural.html#fluoride [return]

62 United Nations Children’s Fund: http://www.unicef.org/programme/wes/info [return]

63 Ibid. [return]

64 World Health Organization, Report of the World Health Organization: Depleted Uranium Mission to Kosovo, 2001. http://www.who.int/peh/Radiation [return]

65 World Health Organization:
http://www.who.int/peh/Radiation/radindex.htm (updated on June 8, 2001) [return]

66 World Health Organization, Health Consequences of the Chernobyl Accident: Results of the IPHECA Pilot Projects and Related National Programmes, 1995. [return]

67 Ibid. [return]

68 World Health Organization, Electromagnetic Fields and Public Health, Fact Sheet N183 (revised), 1998. [return]

69 Ibid. [return]

70 Ibid. [return]

71 World Health Organization, Health and Environment in Sustainable Development: Five Years after the Earth Summit, op. cit. [return]

72 Human Rights Watch, Underage and Unprotected: Child Labor in Egypt’s Cotton Fields, Vol.13, No.1 (E), New York, January 2001. [return]

73 Walsh, Michael, “The Global Phaseout of Leaded Gasoline: A Successful Initiative”, Earth Summit Watch, op. cit. [return]

74 Bates, N. and N. Edwards, J. Roper, G. Volans, Paediatric Toxicology: Handbook of Poisoning in Children, Macmillan Reference Ltd, London, 1997. [return]

75 Carpenter et al., “Environmental Threats to Children: The Asian Perspective,” Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol.108, No.10, 2000. [return]

76 World Health Organization, Health and Environment in Sustainable Development: Five Years after the Earth Summit, op. cit. [return]

77 Inter-Organization Programme for the Sound Management of Chemicals, United Nations Environment Programme, United Nations Children’s Fund, United Nations Institute for Training and Research, Global Opportunities for Reducing the Use of Leaded Gasoline, UNEP Chemicals, Switzerland, 1998. [return]

78 United States Environmental Protection Agency, Lead Phase-Out, 5 July 2000. http://www.epa.gov/oia/tips/lead2.htm [return]

79 Reuters/Planet Ark,20 April 2001. [return]

80 United Nations (Department for Economic and Social Affairs), “Eliminating Mercury Pollution”, Sustainable Development Success Stories, 1998. http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/success/mer_pol.htm [return]

81 United Nations Environment Programme, Global Ministerial Environment Forum, Policy Issues: Emerging Policy Issues, op. cit. [return]

82 World Health Organization, Health and Environment in Sustainable Development: Five Years after the Earth Summit, op. cit. [return]

83 von Schirnding, Yasmin and Nigel Bruce, “Household Energy Use, Health and Development,” Background Paper prepared for the USAID/WHO Global Consultation on Indoor Air Pollution and Household Energy in Developing Countries, Washington D. C., 2000. [return]

84 Hall and Rosillo-Calle, “Biomass in Developing Countries,” report to the Office of Technology Assessment, Washington D.C, 1991. [return]

85 GTZ, “Household energy program 1997” cited in von Schirnding and Bruce, op. cit. [return]

86 For example, United States Environmental Protection Agency’s standards recommend that in only 1% of 24-hour periods should ambient levels of PM10 (small particles of diameter less than 10 microns) exceed 150 mg/m3. [return]

87 Bruce, Nigel, “Lowering Exposure of Children to Indoor Air Pollution to Prevent ARI: The Need for Information and Action,” Environmental Health Project (EHP) Capsule Report, No.3, 1999; Smith, K.R. and Youcheng Liu, “Indoor Air Pollution in Developing Countries,” Jonathan M. ed., The Epidemiology of Lung Cancer, Marcel Dekker Publishing, New York, 1992. [return]

88 Holdren, John P. and Kirk R. Smith, “Energy, the Environment and Health,” Energy and the Challenge of Sustainability, United Nations Development Programme, New York, 2000. [return]

89 Garenne, M., C. Ronsmans, and H. Campbell, “The Magnitude of Mortality from Acute Respiratory Infections in Children under 5 Years in Developing Countries”, World Health Statistics Quarterly, 45:180-191, 1992 cited in WHO, Health and Environment in Sustainable Development: Five Years after the Earth Summit, op. cit. [return]

90 World Health Organization, Health and Environment in Sustainable Development, op. cit. [return]

91 Holdren, John P. and Kirk R. Smith, “Energy, the Environment and Health,” Energy and the Challenge of Sustainability, op. cit. [return]

92 World Health Organization, Health and Environment in Sustainable Development, op. cit. [return]

93 World Health Organization, World Health Report 1999 Data Base, op. cit. [return]

94 Smith, K.R. and Sumi Mehta, “The Burden of Disease from Indoor Air Pollution in Developing Countries: Comparison of Estimates” paper presented at the Global Consultation: The Health Impact of Indoor Air Pollution and Household Energy in Developing Countries: Setting the Agenda for Action, Summary Report for Participants, sponsored by USAID and WHO, Washington, D. C., 2000. [return]

95 Holdren, John, P. and Kirk R. Smith, “Energy, the Environment and Health,” Energy and the Challenge of Sustainability, op. cit. [return]

96 Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol.106, No.1, January 1998. [return]

97 Neufeld, Ellis J., A study published in 2 Sept. 1997 issue of Circulation, cited in Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol.106, No.1 January 1998. [return]

98 McConnell, Rob, Kiros Berhane et al., “Asthma in exercising children exposed to ozone: a cohort study”, The Lancet; Vol. 359: 386-91, 2002. [return]

99 World Health Organization, World Health Report 1999 Database, op. cit. [return]

100 United Nations Environment Programme, Global Ministerial Environment Forum, Policy Issues: Emerging Policy Issues, op. cit. [return]

101 Agence France-Presse, October 30, 2001. [return]

102 The United States Environmental Protection Agency: http://www.epa.gov/children/asthma.htm [return]

103 Levine, J.S., T. Bobbe et al., Wildland Fires and the Environment: A Global Synthesis, United Nations Environment Programme, UNEP/DEIAEW/TR.99-1, Nairobi, 1999. [return]

104 World Bank Press Release, 18 April 2001. [return]

105 Alliance to End Childhood Lead Poisoning and the Environmental Defense Fund, The Global Dimensions of Lead Poisoning, op. cit. [return]

106 Misana, Salome, “Lessons from the field”, Generating Opportunities: Case Studies on Energy and Women, pp 17-26, United Nations Development Programme, New York, 2001. [return]

107 Holdren, John P. and Kirk R. Smith, “Energy, the Environment and Health,” Energy and the Challenge of Sustainability, op. cit. [return]

108 United Nations, Report of the Secretary General on We the Children: End-Decade Review of the Follow-up to the World Summit for Children, op. cit. [return]

109 United Nations Secretariat of the Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD): http://www.unccd.int/main.php [return]

110 Food and Agriculture Organization, Food, Security and Nutrition, World Food Summit, FAO, 1996 cited in UNEP, Global Environment Outlook 2000, op. cit. [return]

111 United Nations Environment Programme, Global Environment Outlook 2000, op. cit. [return]

112 Ibid. [return]

113 Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, Health and Sustainable Development: Report of the Secretary General to the Commission on Sustainable Development, op. cit. [return]

114 United Nations, Report of the Secretary General on We the Children: End-Decade Review of Follow-up to the World Summit for Children, op. cit. [return]

115 United Nations Environment Programme, Global Environment Outlook 2000, op. cit. [return]

116 World Health Organization, Strengthening Interventions to Reduce Helminth Infections: As an Entry Point for the Development of Health-Promoting Schools, op. cit. [return]

117 World Health Organization, Childhood nutrition and progress in implementing the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes, EB109/11, 2001. [return]

118 Bateman, Massee, The Unfinished Agenda: Microbiological Contaminants and the Burden of Disease, Presentation at a children’s environmental health panel discussion during the Second Session of the Preparatory Committee for the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Children, February 2001. [return]

119 World Health Organization, Strengthening Interventions to Reduce Helminth Infections: As an Entry Point for the development of Health-Promoting Schools, 1979b, op. cit. [return]

120 Ibid. [return]

121 Talukder, Aminuzzaman et al., “Increasing the production and consumption of vitamin A-rich fruits and vegetables: Lessons learned in taking the Bangladesh homestead gardening programme to a national scale,” Food and Nutrition Bulletin, Vol.21, No.2., United Nations University, Tokyo, 2000. [return]

122 United Nations (Department for Economic and Social Affairs), Promotion of Horti-Forestry for Sustainable Livelihood, Sustainable Development Success Stories, 2000.
http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/success/SARD-22.htm [return]

123 United Nations (Department for Economic and Social Affairs), “Unlimited Responsibility of the Union of Indian Communities of the Isthmus Region,” Sustainable Development Success Stories, 2000. http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/success/SARD-8.htm [return]


Chapter 4: Global Environmental Problems

1 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis – Third Assessment Report, IPCC, Geneva, 2001.

2 Ibid.

3 Ibid.

4 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Summary for Policymakers: Climate Change 2001: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability, A Report of Working Group II of IPCC, Geneva, 2001.

5 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Summary for Policy Makers: Climate Change 2001: Impacts, Adaptations, and Vulnerability, op. cit.

6 United Nations Environment Programme, Ozone Secretariat: http://www.unep.org/ozone/

7 United States Environmental Protection Agency, Children’s Environmental Health Yearbook, EPA, Washington D.C., 1998. [download pdf file of this report]

8 United Nations Secretariat of the Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD): http://www.unccd.int/main.php

9 Ibid.

10 United Nations Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD): http://www.biodiv.org

11 United Nations Environment Programme, Global Environment Outlook 2000, op. cit.

12 Murray, C.J.L. & A. D. Lopez (eds.), The global burden of disease: a comprehensive assessment of mortality an d disability from diseases, injuries and risk factors in 1990 and projected to 2020, Harvard School of Public Health on behalf of World Health Organization and the World Bank, Harvard University Press, 1996.

13 United Nations Children’s Fund, The State of the World’s Children 2001, op. cit.

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