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Environmental Information as a Human Right: “Children
Environmental Right” Defend
YOUR RIGHT IN A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT
While
the eyes of the world are looking closely to monitor developments in the politics of the Palestinian
– Israeli conflict, and in the chaos of political clichés, accusations, retaliation, and the
severe cycle of bloodshed, the eyes of human consciousness must be looking at a different angle.
As hard as it may be, it is crucial for our well being as Palestinians to look past our rage
and suppress our desire to react to the dismal political status in a manner that is more destructive
than constructive. It is important to mend what has
been broken with continuous and zealous determination. It
is empirical that Palestinians must feel normal to act normal, and through returning to the
Palestinian individual his/her natural rights as a human, it is granted that the individual will
comply with their obligations. Throughout the course of
occupation, Palestinian children have been denied of every single right that humans are entitled to,
and it is empirical that these rights are returned in full. In
our organization, Palestine Wildlife Society, we have been active in environmental education, among
other fields, and therefore it as our role to emphasize children’s environmental rights.
Therefore we propose a project in which we introduce to the educational systems of Palestine the concepts of children’s Environmental Rights. The benefits of introducing Children’s Environmental rights to the schools of Palestine are many and lead to the advancement of the Palestinian society at the economical advancement level, health level, democracy and governmental transparency level, educational level, decision making initiative level, and last but not least, the environmental level.
As opposed to popular belief, conservation efforts and proper land management techniques do
not inherently oppose material gain leading to economic decline. On the contrary, proper land and resources management is designed to maximize the
efficiency in use of land, water, and other resources provided in nature.
In the long run, conservation and resource management ensures continuity in the ability to
extract valuable resources from nature, as well as ensure that no permanent damage occurs the
habitat or inhabitant. Consequently, the promotion of
Environmental rights is a means of increasing environmental awareness, emphasizing the managerial
role humans play in the environment, and introducing sustainability and longevity to our use of
natural resources all towards the development of a strong approach for economic advancement and
sustainability.
In respect to dealing with Health and Health issues in Palestine knowledge of environmental
rights is necessary. Health is a primary tenant in the
list of Human Environmental rights. It is rudimentary
knowledge that the Environment directly affects the health of its inhabitants.
On one level, the knowledge of one’s right to a healthy environment empowers one to strive
for a healthier environment; an environment that provides the basis and the support necessary to
lead a healthy life. On another level, maintaining a
healthy environment, markedly an active environment with abundance of Biodiversity is empirical for
the future of humans. Abundance of Biodiversity is
important for providing a wide base of genetic resources, most of which are used increasingly for
research on treatments for many diseases, and will probably be used in the future.
Accordingly, as the Environment and Health are so intrinsically related, the knowledge of the
human’s Environmental rights provides the means by which humans could directly improve their
health and the health of generations to come. Establishing concepts of human Environmental rights in Palestinian school systems also have civic advancements. Developing methods in which this topic is relayed to the students is in itself a step forward for the Education system in Palestine. The issues of Environmental rights require a more interactive method of teaching, much different than the ultra-traditional method the majority of Palestinian schools deploy currently. Moreover, the promotion of Environmental rights in schools would produce generations of Palestinians, not merely knowledgeable in their environmental rights and obligations, but also capable of assessing possible dangers and threats to the environment creating generations of Palestinians willing to take initiative. The effect of such a change, from stagnant to proactive, is the catalyst necessary to induce proper decision-making by the responsible authorities and increase the level of transparency of the government to the people. Based
upon the arguments briefly discussed above a crude conclusion could be attained: The promotion of
Human Environmental rights would be a definite advancement in terms of creating a base of informed
Palestinian citizens helping causes such as economic development in terms of well managed resource
use, the preservation of a healthy environment for healthy inhabitants, the induction of democracy
in terms of the citizen’s willingness to take initiative and the authority’s transparency in
decision-making, and the rise in educational standards. However,
the deepest impact will be upon the natural environment of Palestine.
Considering the political instability the Palestinians have been subject
to, it is only expected that environmental health consideration always come last.
The resources that the Palestinian nature provides are used without proper management and are
being outright abused. Although the scarcity of water is a difficulty the entire region, there is no
awareness to the gravity of this problem and will prove to be one of the greatest challenges
Palestinians will have to face in the future. Scarcity
of water is only one threat to human life and Biodiversity in general.
The Palestinian natural environment is subject to many threats, the majority of which could
be directly attributed to the lack of awareness to the effect of the many environmentally
non-friendly actions Palestinians take on a daily and routine basis.
Such threats include loss of natural habitats, Desertification, pollution of water resources,
tremendous accumulation of solid wastes, air pollution, the loss of wildlife and Biodiversity, and
finally the degradation in the quality of life of the Palestinian people.
While postponing confrontation of the abusive behavior our Palestinian
society performs towards the natural environment to a later stage in the development of the
Palestinian statehood could provide an easy way out, Palestinians would in the future find
themselves dealing with detrimental consequences; consequences which could have been prevented
otherwise. |
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Laith Hazim Qumsiyeh
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