WUNRN
CONSIDER FOR THE GIRL CHILD &
MOTHERS
Direct Link to UNICEF UK Report:
http://www.unicef.org.uk/campaigns/publications/pdf/climate-change.pdf
© UNICEF/HQ97-0742/Radhika Chalasani
OUR CLIMATE, OUR CHILDREN, OUR RESPONSIBILITY
The Implications of Climate Change for the World's Children
Examples of Gender Excerpts:
*"One way in which climate
change will affect the education and gender equality MDGs is by making it more
difficult for children to attend school. The potential impacts on livelihoods
outlined earlier may make it more likely that parents remove their children
from school - and in most cultures this will almost certainly mean removing
girls first - so that they can work to supplement household income.
*Girls in particular are often asked
to assist their mothers in tasks such as collecting firewood and water, and the
pressures on parents to employ children in this way are likely to increase as
water and other natural resources become increasingly scarce.
*Educating girls is a unique
investment that is proven to have an impact beyond the classroom - benefiting
entire famillies and communities. Currently, there are 115 girls out of primary
school for every 100 boys. This stark example of gender inequality is likely to
worsen as climate change pressures increase.
*Women and children appear to be
more vulnerable to the impacts of natural disasters. Pregnant and nursing
women, and those with small children, are particularly vulnerable.
*Women and children account for more
than 75% of the displaced people following natural disasters. The vulnerability
of women and child refugees to sexual violence, both during transit and in
refugee camps, has been extensively documented.
*Following the Asian tsunami in
2004, World Health Organization expressed concern that children in the region
were particularly vulnerable to trafficking and other forms of exploitation, as
many more women than men appeared to have died. One reason for this was thought
to be that many mothers attempted to rescue their children and other family
members, thereby increasing their own vulnerability."
UNICEF Website Links:
David
Bull, UNICEF UK Executive Director, said, “Those who have contributed least to
climate change - the world’s poorest children - are suffering the most. If the
world does not act now to mitigate and adapt to the risks and realities of
climate change, we will seriously hamper efforts to reach the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 and sustain development progress thereafter.
Many more children could die. It’s clear that a failure to address
climate change is a failure to protect children.”
The report maps the consequences of climate change for children in the context
of the MDGs and children’s rights, highlighting:
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