For young people living on front lines, climate change disrupts education, health and safety, throwing a veil of uncertainty over the future.
While countries rush to achieve climatic objectives, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) intervenes to ensure that children’s voices are not only heard, but at the heart of training solutions.
UN News spoke with the heads of Unicef in Nepal and the Maldives To explore how the agency allows young people, integrate climate resilience in schools and conduct inclusive climate action for children.
A young girl stands next to a tap with a small box of jerry in a mountain village in Nepal. Many houses are lacking in stung water, so children often go from water on the way back to school.
A daily reality
In an isolated village in Western Nepal, Sabu, 11 years old and his friends, face danger daily on the school. Intensive and unpredictable rains trigger landslides that wash the roads and floods that overwhelm houses and agricultural land.
“” Children live with anxiety and uncertainty. When it rains and there are floods, they must be hiked, the bridges are overwhelmed, the roads are muddy – and that’s what they have to walk day after day. »»
“” It becomes a huge burden for children to wear,“Said Alice Akunga, UNICEF representative in Nepal.
Thousands of kilometers, in the low Maldives, the threat takes a different form but just as devastating. Sea waves erod the coasts, flooding houses and wash the infrastructure.
“” Erosion is a daily reality for children here… Young people see their trees fall, houses at risk and they grow with the constant fear of losing their islands, ”explains Edward Addai, UNICEF representative in the Maldives.
“” Climate change is not something from a distance – that is part of their lives.“”
A father and daughter on a beach seriously eroded on the island of Dhiffushi, in the Maldives.
Children at the heart of climate action
UNICEF’s work in both countries is guided by a simple principle: children must be at the heart of climatic solutions. This means not only protecting them from impacts, but also giving them to change agents.
In Nepal, with the support of UN agencies, the government has integrated education in climate change in the national program. The courses go beyond theory, with teacher training, Green school initiatives and practical actions such as harvesting rainwater and waste management.
“We support the update of school safety frameworks … making them more resilient and absorb climatic shocks such as heavy rain or floods,” said Akunga.
At the recent Sagarmatha Sambaad – discussions on the climate of Everest – UNICEF supported a National dialogue led by young people This brought together more than 100 children and young people from all over Nepal to engage with decision -makers and submit a children’s and young declaration to the Prime Minister.
The UNICEF representative at the Maldives Edward Addai speaks with a group of girls participating in plastic cleaning.
Young leadership beyond classrooms
In the Maldives, the agency’s approach emphasizes community engagement alongside education.
UNICEF has helped establish environmental clubs in schools, providing children’s safe spaces to learn, discuss and act on climatic issues. He also works with the health system to introduce solar energy to hospitals, by supplanting fossil fuels.
“These clubs are essential to feed leadership and connect school activities to community projects,” added Addai.
Young people are also at the center of the government’s climate plans, engaging in direct dialogue with political decision -makers and strengthening intergenerational responsibility. Such an initiative is the Youth track in COPA platform co-directed by UNICEF and the government’s partners to prepare young people to engage significantly in national and global climatic discussions.
Alice Akunga, UNICEF representative in Nepal, with a group of young children in a classroom.
Protect the next generation
UNICEF also supports efforts to integrate policies sensitive to children in contributions determined to countries (NDC) – climate commitments under the Paris Agreement.
The promises of Nepal Include commitments to green schools and resilient educational infrastructure in the climate. The children were actively involved in the consultations of the last NDC of Nepal, sharing first -hand stories on the impact of the climate on their daily life.
THE The Maldives emphasize Young commitment, access to clean water and reinforced health systems in vulnerable climatic areas. Young people also shape the policy through national cops and direct participation in global climate forums.
This ensures that resilience efforts will extend beyond infrastructure to cover the health, education and mental well-being of children.
An eight -year -old girl recovers her manuals from the rubble of her house, destroyed in an earthquake in western Nepal.
Doing things well, for everyone
UNICEF officials highlighted what a truly including climate plan requires.
“” He recognizes the impact of climate change on all aspects of a child’s life – From their lungs to their learning to their access to clean water, “said Akunga.
“He guarantees that children can continue to receive health services, continue to learn and adapt without anxiety or uncertainty. It is a question of guaranteeing their survival, their growth and their development, whatever the climatic shocks. ”
Mr. Addai added: “If we do things correctly for children, we get things in society. “”
“Children are the future guards of their land and their communities. A climate plan that ignores the realities of children will fail to everyone. But when the children are in good health, educated and included, the prosperous society “,”
A group of young Maldivians at a national conference while the country is preparing at the COP28 climate summit.
Children open the way
Ms. Akunga remembers meeting Sabu, the 11 -year -old girl, visiting the field.
“I met this child. I went to his village and I met his parents …She took her and mobilized other young girls to find out more about medicinal plants – how to feed and protect them from extreme weather conditions. »»
She explained how Sabu transfers the knowledge of the ancients to the peers – punching the generations – and impressing her community by her passion.
Despite the intimidating challenges, children like Sabu go up. They organize themselves, plead for change and offer solutions.
“Their voices count …Children are not only affected by climate change – they are essential partners to respond to themSaid Ms. Akunga.
Mr. Addai echoed this feeling: “Listening to children and including them in decisions, we build a world where the next generation can live safely and prosper.“”
Publicado anteriormente en Almouwatin.
