43 Million Children Displaced between 2016 and 2021 Due To Climate Disasters: UNICEF
Of the total number of children displaced between 2016 and 2021, 95 per cent of them were caused by floods and storms. According to a study by UNICEF and IDMC (Independent Data Monitoring Committee), the number is likely to increase as floods, droughts, storms and wildfires intensify due to the climate crisis.
गाँव कनेक्शन 6 Oct 2023 8:50 AM GMT
43 million children displaced in the past six years, UNICEF reports
A new research named Children Displaced In A Changing Climate – preparing for a future already underway by UNICEF has found that the displacement of at least 43 million children are linked to extreme weather events over the past six years from 2016 to 2021. That is about 20,000 children were forced to abandon their homes and school every day.
In the report, co-author Laura Healy said “...this data only reveals the tip of the iceberg with many more people affected”. The report carries in painful detail the first hand experiences of the children.
“We moved our belongings to the highway, where we lived for weeks,” recounts Khalid Abdul Azim, a child from Sudan, whose flooded village was only accessible by boat.
In 2017, sisters Mia and Maia Bravo watched flames engulf their trailer in California. “I was afraid, in shock,” Maia says in the report. “I would stay up all night.”
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From 2016 to 2021, climate disasters such as floods, storms, droughts and wildfires have led to 43.1 million child displacements in 44 countries, and 95 per cent of these displacements happened due to floods and storms.
The estimated number of displacements by hazard type, between 2016-2021 are as follows :
- Due to storms in 2016 around 69.7 million people and in 2021 around 21.2 million people were displaced.
- Due to floods in 2016, 58.4 million people and in 2021 around 19.7 million people were displaced.
- Because of droughts 2.6 million people were displaced in 2016 and 1.3 million were displaced in 2021.
- Displacement caused by wildfires in 2016 were 3.4 million whereas in 2021 the number was 0.8 million.
According to the report, a total of 134.1 million people were displaced by the extreme weather events of which 43.1 million were child displacements.
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The report highlighted that this translated to approximately 20,000 child displacements per day. The data reflects the number of displacements and not the number of children affected, as the same child could also be uprooted more than once.
The figures do not allow for a distinction between those evacuated before a weather event, and those forced to leave in the wake of a disaster.
