In a personal plea sent to tens of thousands of schools around the world Wednesday, Amnesty International secretary general Kumi Naidoo called on educators and administrators to allow students to join global climate strikes later this month.

“The climate emergency is the defining human rights issue for this generation of children.”
—Kumi Naidoo, Amnesty International

“I believe that the cause for which these children are fighting is of such historic significance that I am writing to you today with a request to neither prevent nor punish your pupils from taking part in the global days of strikes planned for September 20 and 27,” wrote Naidoo, whose letter has been sent to school officials in Canada, Hungary, Spain, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

Inspired by the Fridays for Future school strikes that launched last year—for which students worldwide have taken to the streets to demand that governments pursue more ambitious climate policies—campaigners of all ages have registered thousands of events across the globe that coincide with an upcoming United Nations climate summit in New York City. The week of action will be bookended by the strikes Naidoo mentioned in his letter.

“The climate emergency is the defining human rights issue for this generation of children,” wrote the leader of the world’s largest human rights group. “Its consequences will shape their lives in almost every way imaginable. The failure of most governments to act in the face of overwhelming scientific evidence is arguably the biggest inter-generational human rights violation in history.”

“By taking part in these protests, children are exercising their human rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and to have a say in decisions and matters that affect their lives,” he continued. “In doing so, they are teaching us all a valuable lesson: the importance of coming together to campaign for a better future.”