The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
20,000 children displaced each day by weather-related disasters, UNICEF reports
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
- Exterior wide shot, United Nations flag.
- Wide shot of panel and attendees at press briefing.
- SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Verena Knaus, UNICEF’s Global Lead on Migration and Displacement: “The report finds that on average, every single day 20,000 children have been displaced by floods, storms, wildfires, or droughts. Or put differently: it is disasters like tropical storms, hurricanes, floods – like in Pakistan and wildfires like recently in Canada – that have displaced more than 43 million children over 44 countries in the past six years.”
- Attendee taking photo at briefing.
- SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Verena Knaus, UNICEF’s Global Lead on Migration and Displacement: “The Children Displaced in Changing Climate report finds that floods and storms account for 95 per cent of those child displacements, especially in countries where there are large, good and robust displacement evacuation systems in place or early-warning, many of them are evacuated and their lives are saved, but the numbers keep growing.”
- Mid-shot of attendees.
- SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Verena Knaus, UNICEF’s Global Lead on Migration and Displacement: “With every additional one degree of warming, the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) believes the global risk of displacement by flooding – the largest driver – could rise by 50 per cent. We are not prepared for this climate-changed future. And the displacement of children is barely on the radar of leaders and will probably only on the margins be discussed at COP28 in Dubai.”
- Wide shot of panel at press briefing.
- SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Verena Knaus, UNICEF’s Global Lead on Migration and Displacement: “We need to re-imagine climate finance. We need to use all the opportunities we have from risk insurance schemes to green bonds, blue bonds. But most importantly, we need to unlock climate finance to go to the countries where the greatest risks meet the weakest coping capacities.”
- Wide shot of panel and attendees at press briefing.
- Attendees filming and taking photo at briefing.
- Medium shot of panel and attendees at press briefing.
Similar Stories
1
1
Edited News | WHO
‘We need all routes to open’: in Gaza WHO calls for ramp-up of medevacs, easier access for essentials
Two weeks since a ceasefire agreement entered into force in Gaza the World Health Organization (WHO) noted progress on the flow of aid while calling for more evacuations of critical patients and eased entry for essential medicines and supplies.
1
12
1
1
Edited News | WMO , UNITED NATIONS
UN chief urges boost to life-saving weather warning systems, stresses role of climate change science
No country is safe from the devastating impacts of extreme weather — and saving lives means making early-warning systems accessible to all, UN chief António Guterres said on Wednesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
Gazans’ response to food distributions ‘overwhelming’ as humanitarians scale up under fragile ceasefire
In Gaza, the ceasefire is enabling UN humanitarians to reach more desperate people with life-saving food, but greater access is needed to contain the spread of famine.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP , OCHA
UN urges opening of all Gaza crossings to deliver three-month food supply
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has warned food aid cannot reach everyone in Gaza unless all border crossings are opened, particularly in the north where famine was declared in August. The agency says it already has enough supplies in place to feed the entire population of the Strip for three months – if full access is granted by Israel.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNDP , UNICEF , OCHA , ICRC
Around $70 billion will be needed to reconstruct Gaza and make it safe after two years of war, UN development experts said on Tuesday, while aid agencies reported that far too little aid continues to reach desperate Palestinians.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
The UN human rights office, OHCHR, on Friday welcomed the Nobel Peace Prize committee’s decision to name Maria Machado as this year’s laureate, in recognition of her work promoting the Venezuelan people’s democratic hopes.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA , UNICEF , WHO
As Gazans jammed the main route leading north on Friday after a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas was announced, UN aid teams repeated their call to open all crossings into the devastated enclave to prevent famine spreading.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF , WHO
Two years of Gaza-Israel war bring ‘indescribable’ pain: UN humanitarians
Two years since the Hamas-led terror attacks on Israel, UN humanitarians on Tuesday reiterated calls for the release of all hostages in Gaza, an immediate ceasefire and an aid surge to alleviate Palestinians’ suffering, as talks on a US-driven peace plan continued in Egypt.
1
1
1
Edited News
Syria prison survivor seeks justice for the missing with UN backing.
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday warned that three and a half years after Russia’s full-scale invasion, the war in Ukraine has entered an even more dangerous and deadly stage for Ukrainian civilians, under relentless bombardment of their schools, hospitals, and shelters.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , WHO , ICRC
Quadcopter victims, terror and death: 30 minutes in a Gaza hospital
UN aid teams on Friday highlighted the disturbing situation in Gaza’s makeshift hospitals, where premature babies cry for scant oxygen and medics attempt to save child survivors targeted by airstrikes in their tents and quadcopter victims reportedly shot while fetching bread.
2
1
2
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Thursday delivered his oral update to the UN Human Rights Council’s 60th session on the human rights situation in Haiti.
The High Commissioner welcomed Wednesday’s decision of the UN Security Council to strengthen the Multinational Security Support mission by transitioning to the Gang Suppression Force for Haiti, stating it is a strong signal of international support for the Haitian people.