The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), is calling on delegates to finance climate adaptation and solutions to save over 27.7 million children affected by flood in about 27 countries around the world.
The call was made on Tuesday at the ongoing COP27 Climate Change Conference in Egypt.
The Director of Global Communications and Advocacy, UNICEF, Paloma Escudero, said the conference presents an opportunity for leaders to set a credible road map for finance with clear objectives towards the attainment of climate adaptation.
“COP27 provides an opportunity to chart a credible roadmap with clear milestones for finance for climate adaptation and solutions for loss and damage,” said Paloma Escudero.
Countries including Chad, Gambia, Pakistan and northeast Bangladesh are going through the worst flood disasters, the highest in over 30 years.
Also, in Nigeria an estimated 840,000 children were displaced by floods in recent months.
To this, these vulnerable children are exposed to severe risk of starvation, disease, exploitation and death, according to UNICEF.
It added that this year, floods have contributed to the increased spread of major killers of children, such as malnutrition, malaria, cholera and diarrhoea, and that the aftermath of floods is often more deadly for children than the extreme weather events that caused the flooding.
In Pakistan, more than one in nine children under five, who were admitted to health facilities in flood-affected areas of Sindh and Balochistan, were found to be suffering from severe acute malnutrition.
In South Sudan, 95 UNICEF-supported nutrition sites have been affected by floods, hampering the delivery of life-saving and preventative malnutrition services for 92,000 children.
Heavy rains and flooding in Yemen triggered floods causing extensive damage to shelters in displacement sites. Up to 73,854 households were affected and 24,000 households have been displaced.
“The children from the most affected places on Earth are drowning in climate inaction. Enough is enough. Lives are on the line – children need action now,” the UNICEF Director added.
Governments and big business have been urged to rapidly reduce emissions, UNICEF is urging leaders to take immediate action to safeguard children from climate devastation by adapting the critical social services they rely upon.
Adaptation measures, like creating water, health and education systems that stand up to flooding and drought, will save lives.
Paloma Escudero said that “without urgent action, many more vulnerable children and young people will lose their lives in the days and weeks to come. And without climate action, hundreds of millions more will almost certainly suffer like those in Pakistan.”
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