{"id":8548,"date":"2023-11-13T19:54:51","date_gmt":"2023-11-13T16:54:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/?p=8548"},"modified":"2023-11-13T19:54:53","modified_gmt":"2023-11-13T16:54:53","slug":"unicef-millions-of-children-globally-face-water-scarcity-due-to-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/news\/unicef-millions-of-children-globally-face-water-scarcity-due-to-climate-change","title":{"rendered":"UNICEF: Millions of children globally face water scarcity due to climate change"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In a report by UNICEF, about \u201c739 million<b>\u00a0<\/b>children worldwide already live in areas exposed to high or very high water scarcity, with climate change threatening to make this worse\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Further, \u201cthe double burden of dwindling water availability and inadequate drinking water and sanitation services is compounding the challenge, putting children at even greater risk\u201d, the United Nations Children&#8217;s Fund said.<\/p>\n<p>The report, entitled<i>\u00a0The Climate Changed Child<\/i>, released ahead of the COP28 Summit, provides an analysis of the impacts of three tiers of water security globally \u2013 water scarcity, water vulnerability, and water stress.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Impacts_of_climate_change_on_children\">Impacts of climate change on children<\/span><\/h2><div id=\"toc_container\" class=\"no_bullets\"><p class=\"toc_title\">Contents<\/p><ul class=\"toc_list\"><li><a href=\"#Impacts_of_climate_change_on_children\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">1<\/span> Impacts of climate change on children<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Children_and_the_plight_of_water_scarcity\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">2<\/span> Children and the plight of water scarcity<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Provision_of_safe_water_and_sanitation_services\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">3<\/span> Provision of safe water and sanitation services<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#UNICEF_calls_for_intervention_at_COP28\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">4<\/span> UNICEF calls for intervention at COP28<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Childrens_voices_should_be_heard\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">5<\/span> Children\u2019s voices should be heard<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n<p>UNICEF highlighted the countless other ways in which illness, air pollution, and extreme weather events like floods and droughts cause children to suffer the most from the effects of the climate crisis.<\/p>\n<p>According to the report, \u201cFrom the moment of conception until they grow into adulthood, the health and development of children\u2019s brains, lungs, immune systems, and other critical functions are affected by the environment they grow up in.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Since children generally breathe faster than adults and their brains, lungs, and other organs are still developing, they are more likely to suffer from air pollution than adults, the report stated.<\/p>\n<p>UNICEF Executive Director, Catherine Russell, said \u201cThe consequences of climate change are devastating for children, (&#8230;). Their bodies and minds are uniquely vulnerable to polluted air, poor nutrition, and extreme heat.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She also said \u201cNot only is their world changing \u2013 with water sources drying up and terrifying weather events becoming stronger and more frequent \u2013 so too is their well-being as climate change affects their mental and physical health.<\/p>\n<p>The Executive Director believed that \u201cChildren are demanding change, but their needs are far too often relegated to the sidelines.\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article__embed article__embed--unwrap article__embed--photo\">\n<div class=\"photo_embed--Title\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2><span id=\"Children_and_the_plight_of_water_scarcity\">Children and the plight of water scarcity<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>According to the report, the majority of children affected are in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia regions with low water resources, high levels of seasonal and interannual variability, declining groundwater tables, or a danger of drought.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn 2022, 436 million children were living in areas facing extreme water vulnerability. Some of the most impacted countries include Niger, Jordan, Burkina Faso, Yemen, Chad, and Namibia, where 8 out of 10 children are exposed,\u201d the report stated.<\/p>\n<p>UNICEF also lamented the greater number of children who are facing the double burden of high or very high water scarcity, which of course, put their lives, health, and well-being at risk.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is one of the key drivers of deaths among children under 5 from preventable diseases,\u201d UNICEF stressed.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Provision_of_safe_water_and_sanitation_services\">Provision of safe water and sanitation services<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>\u201cClimate change is leading to increased water stress \u2013 the ratio of water demand to available renewable supplies,\u201d the report warned.<\/p>\n<p>If this continues, \u201cBy 2050, 35 million more children are projected to be exposed to high or very high levels of water stress, with the Middle East and North Africa, and South Asia currently facing the biggest shifts,\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Under these conditions, therefore, the provision of clean water and sanitation services is a crucial first step in protecting children from the effects of climate change.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article__embed article__embed--unwrap article__embed--photo\">\n<div class=\"photo_embed--Title\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2><span id=\"UNICEF_calls_for_intervention_at_COP28\">UNICEF calls for intervention at COP28<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Ahead of the COP28 Summit, UNICEF calls on world leaders and the international community to take critical steps with and for children to secure a liveable planet.<\/p>\n<p>It advocated decisions at COP28 should include children, embed them in the Global Stocktake, and ensure child rights are embedded in the Loss and Damage Fund&#8217;s governance and decision-making process.<\/p>\n<p>UNICEF also urges COP28 to save children&#8217;s lives, health, and welfare through adapting social services, giving children the tools to advocate for the environment, and reducing emissions.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Childrens_voices_should_be_heard\">Children\u2019s voices should be heard<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Despite their unique vulnerability, children have been either ignored or largely disregarded in discussions about climate change.<\/p>\n<p>According to the report, \u201conly 2.4 per cent of climate finance from key multilateral climate funds support projects that incorporate child-responsive activities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Russell stressed that \u201cChildren and young people have consistently made urgent calls for their voices to be heard on the climate crisis, but they have almost no formal role in climate policy and decision-making.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey are rarely considered in existing climate adaptation, mitigation, or finance plans and actions,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is our collective responsibility to put every child at the centre of urgent global climate action,\u201d concluded the UNICEF Executive Director.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article__embed article__embed--border embed_style\">\n<blockquote><p>\u201cIt is our collective responsibility to put every child at the centre of urgent global climate action.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a report by UNICEF, about \u201c739 million\u00a0children worldwide already live in areas exposed to high or very high water scarcity, with climate change threatening to make this worse\u201d. Further, \u201cthe double burden of dwindling water availability and inadequate drinking water and sanitation services is compounding the challenge, putting children at even greater risk\u201d, the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7330,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8548"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8548\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8550,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8548\/revisions\/8550"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}