Climate Crisis is a Child Crisis and Climate-Resilient Children, Teachers and Schools Must Become Top International Agenda — Global Issues
GENEVA & NAIROBI, February 17 (IPS) – From southern Ethiopia to northern Kenya and Somalia, the most severe drought in 40 years is underway. It is simply too hot to go to school hungry and nearly 3 million children are out of school, along with 4 million children at risk of dropping out of school altogether across the Horn of Africa.
Even further, months after unprecedented floods and landslides ravaged Pakistan, villages are still submerged and millions of children still need life-saving assistance. More recently, while children were sleeping, the most devastating earthquake occurred and an estimated 2.5 million children in Syria and 4.6 million children in Turkey were affected.
Today, children’s delegates from Nigeria and Colombia told the world that climate change is destroying their childhoods and the world must act now because 222 million dreams are at stake. They talked at Education can’t wait for the Financial Summit to be held in Geneva.
“I’m a Save the Children women activist and a member of the children’s council in Nigeria. Children bear the least responsibility for the climate crisis, but we bear the heavy burden. “The climate emergency is children’s responsibility Crisis of rights and suffering clings to a child’s face,” Nafisa said.
In the spirit of listening to those most affected, most at risk, Pedro added on Colombia’s vulnerability to climate change and its impact on children, and beyond, those who in the indigenous community and people with disabilities, such as his 13-year-old. old cousin.
Pedro and Nafisa emphasize that children must play a central role in responding to the climate crisis in every part of the world. They say climate change affects education, and vice versa, education has an important role.
This special session was organized in partnership with the Geneva Global Center for Education in Emergencies, Child Relief and International Planning, in the context of the Second Financial Summit The first was held in close cooperation with the Governments of Colombia, Germany, Niger, Norway and South Sudan, ECW and Switzerland.
Birgitte Lange, CEO of Save the Children Norway, emphasized that climate change is not just a threat to the future, “for 2.4 billion children around the world, the gas crisis Climate change is an urgent global crisis today that is disrupting children and their education.Climate change contributes to, increases and deepens the current crisis facing children. bear.
“Last year, Save the Children hosted our largest-ever dialogue, where we heard from at least 54,000 children in 41 countries around the world. children shared their thoughts on climate change and its consequences for them Keeping children in school amid the climate crisis is important for children’s health and learning Education plays the role of salvation.”
Rana Tanveer Hussain, Federal Minister of Education and Professional Training of Pakistan, said of the severe impact of the floods on the education system of the country, “more than 34,000 public educational institutions have been damaged”. or destroyed At least 2.6 million students are affected, such as about 1 million children are at risk of dropping out of school altogether.
“During this crisis, ECW has been very supportive, extending a grant of US$5 million through its First Emergency Response Program in flood-affected districts in September and May. 10, 2022, targeting 19,000 children to date.In addition, the multi-year resilience of the ECW program has also been leveraged to contribute to these tremendous efforts.But the need remains. very big.”
Gregorius Yoris, a young leader representing Youth for Education in emergencies in Indonesia, said that although children are at the forefront of the climate crisis, they are left behind. most in finding solutions to climate change.
With a billion children, or almost half the world children Dr Heike Kuhn, Head of Education at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, told the participants that it was time to raise climate-resilient children.
“Weather-related disasters are on the rise and young people are impacted the most; we need three things: climate-adapted schools, climate-adapted teachers and climate-adapted students We need climate-resilient schools to stay safe when disaster strikes,” she explained.
“We must never forget teachers, as they must be agents of change and teach children to use resources like water and energy in a sustainable way. Children must also be taught how to adapt handle extreme weather changes like earthquakes without leaving behind the most vulnerable children.”
As the curtain fell on the landmark two-day conference, Yasmine Sherif, Education Director Cannot Wait, told participants: “The best feeling comes from the fact that all stakeholders are involved. ECW agencies are all here and together we have mobilized these resources, government, civil society, United Nations Agencies, the private sector, Organisations.
“As I look at the panels and pledges, I feel that everyone has ownership. Education Can’t Wait is Yours. The success of this conference is a historic milestone for educators. education in emergencies and protracted crises.”
In total, 17 donors have announced their commitment to ECW, including five contributions from new donors – a historic milestone for education in the event of an emergency and protracted crisis and ECW. Just over a month into the Multilateral Fund’s new Strategic Plan 2023-2026, these landmark commitments already account for more than half of the $1.5 billion needed to implement the 4-Year Strategic Plan. of the Fund.
On the way forward, Sherif said ECW is ready to go, but with an additional $826 million, the Foundation is taking a big step towards 20 million children and young people that will be supported with education child-centered holistic education. This aligns with the new Strategic Plan, whose top priorities include localization, working with local organizations at the grassroots, youth and children’s levels.
“We can no longer look at climate- and education-driven disasters in the bunkers. Conflict creates disruption in education, so do climate-induced disasters and then fate. of children and young people who have to flee their homeland for asylum or are forced to relocate within the country,” she stressed.
“Above all, as we’ve seen in Afghanistan and globally, every girl’s right to a quality education. And we’re moving forward, and that’s where we’re going to start from here. Thanks to the great contribution in the capital of humanitarian institutions, we are bringing the development of education to the most left behind. Thank you Switzerland for welcoming us.”
Report of the UN IPS Office
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© Inter Press Service (2023) — All rights reservedOrigin: Inter Press Service
