UN, partners publish guidelines first aimed at protecting children uprooted by climate change

UNITED NATIONS, July 25 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations and its partners on Monday released guidelines designed to protect, include and empower children fleeing their homes because of climate change, marking the first global framework to this issue.

Launched by the International Organization for Migration (IMO), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), Georgetown University and the United Nations University, the Guiding Principles for Children on the Move in the Context of Climate Change contain a set of nine principles that address the unique and layered vulnerabilities of boys and girls who have been uprooted due to climate change, whether internally or across borders.

The partners pointed out that currently, most child-related migration policies do not consider climate and environmental factors, while most climate change policies overlook the unique needs of children.

Nearly half of the world's 2.2 billion children, or roughly 1 billion boys and girls, live in 33 countries at high risk of the adverse impacts of climate change. Around 10 million children were displaced following weather-related shocks in 2020 alone.

Millions more children could be forced to move in the coming years, warned the partners.

"Every day, rising sea levels, hurricanes, wildfires, and failing crops are pushing more and more children and families from their homes," said Catherine Russell, UNICEF executive director.

"Displaced children are at greater risk of abuse, trafficking, and exploitation. They are more likely to lose access to education and healthcare. And they are frequently forced into early marriage and child labor," she said.

IOM Director General Antonio Vitorino noted that although migrant children are particularly vulnerable when moving amid climate change, their needs and aspirations are still overlooked in policy debates.

"With these guiding principles we aim to ensure visibility to their needs and rights, both in policy debates and programming. Managing migration and addressing displacement of children in the context of climate change, environmental degradation and disasters, is an immense challenge that we must address now," he added.

The guiding principles provide national and local governments, international organizations, and civil society groups with a foundation to build policies that protect children's rights.