The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said 840,000 Nigerian children were displaced by the recent flooding incidents across the country.
UNICEF disclosed this on Tuesday evening, warning that the children are suffering the most from the adverse impacts of this year’s widespread floods.
The UN agency added that more than 27 million children worldwide are at risk due to devastating flooding that has posed threats, including death by drowning.
UNICEF’s COP 27 message: The message by UNICEF was delivered at the ongoing COP 27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. The UN agency warned that at least 27.7 million children in 27 countries were affected by flooding. Some of the worst-hit countries are Nigeria, Chad, Malawi, etc.
Part of the message quoted Paloma Escudero, the head of the UNICEF delegation for COP27, to have said:
- “We are seeing unprecedented levels of flooding all around the world this year, and with it, an explosion in threats to children. The climate crisis is here. In many places, the flooding is the worst it has been in a generation or several. Our children are already suffering at a scale their parents never did.”
Children are suffering: UNICEF stated that in Pakistan, 1 in 9 children admitted to health facilities in flood-affected areas was found to be suffering from severe acute malnutrition. In Chad, 465,030 hectares of farmland were destroyed, worsening the already dire food insecurity situation.
Nigeria’s COP 27 agenda: Nairametrics earlier reported that Nigeria’s energy transition plan (ETP) would be a part of discussions at the ongoing COP 27 event. The recent flooding in Nigeria will also be up for discussion. The government had expressed hope that developed countries would keep their promise of financing developing countries to enable the latter to tackle climate change-related issues.
Nigeria’s Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) requested the sum of N100 billion as its intervention fund to repair roads damaged by the recent flooding nationwide.