Attachments
Humanitarian Situation
The year 2022 began with an estimated 274 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and protection. Throughout the year, these needs grew considerably. This was largely due to the war in Ukraine; to rising food insecurity and threats of famine brought about by this war and by climate-related and socioeconomic factors; and to the devastating floods in Pakistan.
The climate crisis is a child rights crisis
Climate change is a top driver of humanitarian need and human suffering, particularly for the poorest countries and the most vulnerable people living in them. And the effects of climate hazards linger long after the climatic “event” has passed. The aftermath of floods, for example, is often deadlier for children than the extreme weather events that initiate them. In 2022, flooding contributed to the increased spread of such major killers of children as malnutrition, malaria, cholera and diarrhoea. The climate crisis is deepening already wide inequalities, because climate change, weather variability and the steady rise in natural hazards are affecting large numbers of people who are already living in fragile and conflict-affected situations. The consequences of the climate crisis will nonetheless be felt by the world at large, and they will include more instability, violence and displacement. These consequences are already being felt by millions of children worldwide. This is because the climate crisis becomes visible in the lives of children as everyday threats to their rights: as a water crisis; a health and nutritional crisis; an education crisis; a protection crisis; and a participation crisis.
Conflict leads to humanitarian needs
Conflict drives 80 per cent of all humanitarian needs. The number of countries experiencing violent conflict is at a thirtyyear high. And, around the world, attacks on children continue unabated. From Ukraine to Yemen and from Ethiopia to Nigeria and beyond, warring parties are flouting one of the most basic rules of war: protect the children. Conflict is also disrupting access to the necessities of life, like food and water, and is forcing people into extreme poverty. The poorest and the most vulnerable people are paying the highest price. What’s more, reaching people who require assistance in conflict-affected environments has become more difficult, because humanitarian access – the ability to reach people with the life-saving items and services they require – has severely deteriorated in recent years. Increased violence against humanitarian workers and assets has intensified this phenomenon.
Conflict, violence and instability are forcing people out of their communities. Political instability and unrest in Lebanon, Myanmar and the Sudan – and these are only a few examples – have driven people away from their homes in 2022, increasing their vulnerability. As of the end of June 2022, the number of individuals forcibly displaced from their homes over the years due to persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations and events seriously disturbing public order had surpassed 103 million people.
Record child displacements, a record nobody wants
Children are crossing borders in record numbers, with their families or separated from them, or unaccompanied. Altogether, nearly 37 million children worldwide are displaced due to conflict and violence, a number of displaced children not seen since the Second World War.
And this number does not even include those children displaced by poverty or climate change or by the search for a better life. Nor does it include those children displaced in 2022 due to the war in Ukraine, which itself has caused the fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe since the Second World War.
Many displaced children are living in limbo, without official immigration status or access to education and health care. And far too many displaced children encounter danger, detention, deprivation and discrimination on their journeys, at their destination or upon return home. In short, when children are displaced from their homes and communities, they are at greater risk of rights violations.
We must work together to alleviate the stresses on the rights of children
The great stresses on the rights of children brought about by the intensifying humanitarian situations of our era are only expected to grow. UNICEF has the mandate to address the emergency and long-term needs of children and women; it has demonstrated its capacity to do so at a worldwide scale; and it is constantly adapting to provide an ever-better response to the needs to children. This is what makes UNICEF the humanitarian leader that is called for in these particularly challenging times.