On the occasion of the 8th European Conference on Tobacco or Health (ECToH), an alliance of 20 organisations working in the areas of tobacco control, public health, children‘s rights and sustainable development jointly published a brochure focusing on children‘s rights in view of tobacco cultivation and consumption featuring the right to a tobacco-free world.

The alliance raises awareness on the links between Sustainable Development Goals, children‘s rights and tobacco control. It demands actions to increase the promotion of non-smoking.

In the new brochure Children‘s Rights and Tobacco Control: The right to a tobacco-free world, experts from different areas deal with issues ranging from tobacco cultivation to tobacco consumption. They show the impact of smoking and secondhand smoke on children and discuss social inequalities in smoking among children as well as the legal situation when children are exposed to secondhand smoke at home. They analyse how the tobacco industry uses influencer marketing and social media and describe child labour in tobacco growing. The concluding chapter gives detailed recommendations to governments. Furthermore, children themselves have their say in the brochure: They share their views on working on tobacco plantations or being exposed to secondhand smoke at home.

The tobacco industry plays a crucial role in violating the rights of children in many ways, for instance in being responsible for the use of child labour in tobacco cultivation and throughout their supply chain. This clearly violates the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN CRC). Furthermore, several relevant Articles of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) are breached when children suffer exposure to secondhand smoke. In calling for effective measures for a tobacco-free world, the alliance demands the implementation of the WHO FCTC in its entirety by governments and demand further action to strengthen children‘s rights and the UN CRC. Additionally, private-sector stakeholders must ensure that their business practices do not violate human or children‘s rights.

The brochure was compiled by the alliance on children‘s rights and tobacco control which was founded in September 2018. The alliance is coordinated by Unfairtobacco. More than 20 organizations and experts working on tobacco control, public health, children‘s rights and sustainable development are members of the alliance. They work ad hoc and in changing constellations on common campaigning activities, events and publications. The alliance aims on achieving a tobacco-free world until 2040.

The ECToH takes place from 19th to 22nd February 2020 in Berlin, Germany.

Read Children‘s Rights and Tobacco Control: The Right to a Tobacco-free World here.

Contact details: Sonja von Eichborn | Tel. +49 1511 559 0191 | eichborn@unfairtobacco.org

Supporting Organizations to the brochure are:

Action on Smoking and Health (ASH USA)
Ärztlicher Arbeitskreis Rauchen und Gesundheit (ÄARG)
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
Deutsche Allianz Nichtübertragbare Krankheiten (DANK)
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Pneumologie (DGP)
German Center for Addiction Issues (DHS)
Deutsche Krebshilfe
German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)
Fachstelle für Suchtprävention Berlin
Frauen Aktiv Contra Tabak (FACT)
Health Care Plus
Institute for Therapy and Health Research (IFT-Nord)
Karuna pr|events
Kindernothilfe
Rauchfrei Plus – Gesundheitseinrichtungen für Beratung und Tabakentwöhnung
Smoke Free Partnership (SFP)
terre des hommes Deutschland
Vivantes Klinikum Neukölln
VIVID – Institute for the Prevention of Addiction, Austria

Children are vulnerable to the effects of tobacco production and consumption. Effective tobacco control will strenghten their rights.
Brochure Children's Rights and Tobacco Control © brochure_childrens-rights_EN_cover by Unfairtobacco / CC BY-NC-ND 4.0