We are a group of young researchers in Thailand who conducted a study to better understand how climate change and disasters affect children in our communities. Through this research, we hope to contribute to the raising of awareness on the impacts of climate change and disasters in our communities. In recent years, our country has experienced severe heat waves due to climate change. This interrupts our daily activities, including our schooling and our families’ livelihood, and has also caused us children and adults alike to experience many health problems.

We cannot do it alone. Empowering local actors to lead the response, recovery, rehabilitation and development in their countries is a top priority, and building their capacity supports us to achieve our goals of ensuring every girl and boy has what they need to live a life in all its fullness. We partner with supporters, governments, local communities, faith leaders, civil society, faith-based organisations to support the needs of children and their families throughout the region

This article illustrates the advocacy work that children are carrying out during School Feeding Week, which runs from March 10 to March 15, 2025. Despite the progress made, many schools still do not have access to school meals, prompting children to call on the Congolese government and its partners to fund this program and extend it throughout the DRC.

In East Asia, millions of women, girls, and people with disabilities face persistent inequalities that limit their access to essential services and lifelong opportunities. An estimated 43 million children in the region live with disabilities, many of whom are denied education and healthcare. Poverty forces nearly 1 in 10 children into child labour across the Asia-Pacific region. Additionally, 1 in 5 girls are married before their 18th birthday, hindering their education and increasing their vulnerability to poverty.

At World Vision, we believe every child has the right to live free from harm. Yet, across East Asia, nearly 60% of children experience violence before they reach adulthood, and millions face the threat of trafficking, exploitation, and neglect. These realities demand urgent action.

In the rural communities of Namwala District, early marriage remains a significant barrier to education for many girls. However, through the Empowering Vulnerable Children with Education (EVE) project, supported by World Vision, the Education Above All Foundation’s Educate A Child program, and FAWEZA, change is happening.

This Guidance Note provides specific recommendations to Member States on how to include children’s rights, including children’s participation, in VNRs at the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). It follows the general structure of the Secretary-General’s updated voluntary common reporting guidelines for VNRs2 (the Guidelines), which were most recently updated in November 2019. It also provides examples of good practices from other VNRs from 2017-2019. In line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, this paper defines “children” as people below the age of 18.