Extreme weather events forcibly displaced 43.1 million children across 44 countries over the past six years, the UN Children’s Fund said on Friday.
That figure translates to an alarming average of 20,000 children uprooted every day.
UNICEF latest report, Children Displaced in a Changing Climate, is the first global analysis of child displacements caused by floods, storms, droughts and wildfires. “The report finds that on average 20,000 children have been displaced by weather-related events every single day for the past six years. Tropical storms, hurricanes, floods or wildfires caused more than 43 million displacements of children in 44 countries over just six years,” explained Verena Knaus, UNICEF’s Global Lead on Migration and Displacement to reporters in Geneva.
China and the Philippines are among the countries that recorded the highest absolute numbers of child displacements, owing to their exposure to extreme weather, large child populations and improved early warning and evacuation capacities, according to the report. “Floods and storms account for 95 per cent of those child displacements, due in part to better reporting and more pre-emptive evacuations,” Ms. Knaus said.
However, when considering the data relative to the size of the child population, children living in small island States such as Dominica and Vanuatu were most affected by storms, while in Somalia and South Sudan, floods were the biggest threat.
UNICEF predicts large-scale displacements of children will likely become more frequent as carbon emissions continue to rise and the impacts of climate change increase. “With every additional one degree of warming, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) believes the global risk of displacement by flooding could rise by 50 per cent,” warned Ms. Knaus. “We are not prepared for this climate-changed future. And the displacement of children is barely on the radar of leaders and will probably be discussed only on the margins at COP28 in Dubai,” she added.
The UN Children’s Fund called for urgent action to support children already uprooted and prepare those at risk of displacement, by improving their adaptive capacity and resilience and involving them in finding solutions. “We need to re-imagine climate finance,” stressed Ms. Knaus. “We need to unlock climate finance to go to the countries where the greatest risks meet the weakest coping capacities.”
Ends
TRT: 2’03
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 06 October 2023
UNCTAC Press Conference
LOCATION: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk made the following remarks to the Human Rights Council annual panel on adverse impacts of climate change.
1
1
2
Edited News | WHO
The first meagre midweek delivery of urgently needed medical goods to enter Gaza in months will provide scant relief to the enclave’s people, who continue to be shot and killed as they search for food, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.
2
1
2
Statements , Edited News | HRC
Enhanced interactive dialogue on the High Commissioner’s report on Myanmar presented by Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and oral update by Thomas Andrews, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar
1
1
1
Edited News | UNOG
The conflict-impacted people of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) urgently need much more international assistance than they are getting today, the UN’s top aid official said on Thursday.
1
1
2
Edited News | UNOG
Violence in Myanmar is spiralling as the military junta increases its attacks on monasteries, schools and camps sheltering people uprooted by the civil war, a top independent human rights investigator warned on Wednesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan on Palestinians killed seeking food in Gaza
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
Iran-Israel war: UN rights office concerned over strike on Tehran prison, reported espionage arrests
Tehran’s notorious Evin prison known for holding dissidents should not be a target, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) said on Tuesday, a day after a reported Israeli strike on the complex.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , WHO
Death and suffering in Gaza are ever-present and the enclave's people now have little choice but to risk their lives to fetch aid supplies, UN agencies said on Friday. “I met a little boy who was wounded by a tank shell at one of these sites on the final day of me leaving Gaza - I learnt that this little boy had since died of those injuries,” said UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson James Elder. “That speaks to both what is happening at these sites and what is not happening when it comes to medical evacuations.”
1
1
1
Edited News | UNCTAD
UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) launched today the World Investment Report 2025. Global foreign direct investment (FDI) fell by 11%, marking the second consecutive year of decline and confirming a deepening slowdown in productive capital flows, according to the report.
1
1
1
Edited News
Afghan journalist Zahra Nader fled twice due to Taliban rule, highlighting severe women's rights issues.
1
1
1
Edited News
Gazan photojournalist Motaz Azaiza documents war's impact, gaining global attention but facing personal peril.
1
1
1
Edited News | HRC
As the Iran-Israel crisis continued into a sixth day, the UN deputy human rights chief Nada Al-Nashif called for urgent talks to end the continuing exchanges of missile attacks between Tehran and Tel-Aviv.