EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE: Central African Republic: 1.2 Million children need urgent assistance due to devastating conflict

“The violence that has plagued this country has had a devastating impact on the lives of children,” said UNICEF's Representative in the Central African Republic, Mohamed Fall in a news release, adding that to meet the overwhelming humanitarian needs, access and greater international support are essential. According to UNICEF estimates, more than two million children have been affected by the violence which first broke out in December 2012 and which reached crisis levels in December 2013 following clashes that led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands in the capital, Bangui.. Nearly three years after the “devastating” conflict began in the Central African Republic (CAR), an estimated 1.2 million children are now in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, said the United Nations Children's Fund. About 400,000 people remain displaced within the country, and renewed clashes in September created an additional 39,000 internally displaced people in Bangui and a further half a million people are living as refugees in neighbouring countries, UNICEF said. The agency said that insecurity and underfunding continue to put urgent lifesaving activities at risk, while attacks on humanitarian conveys threaten the deployment of relief supplies to the interior of the country. According to UNICEF, Pope Francis was expected to visit the country on Sunday, for a two-day visit aimed at promoting reconciliation. UNICEF said that a song for peace, written and sung by children, that calls for national unity and an end to the fighting has been playing on radio stations ahead of the Pope's arrival. “We are hopeful that the voices of these children will be heard, and that the Pope's visit to CAR will promote reconciliation, in a country that is in desperate need of peace,” said Mr. Fall. Further, UNICEF called on all parties to the conflict to grant unrestricted access to organizations seeking to aid those affected by the crisis. The agency said that even in areas that are not affected by the conflict, communities continue to need support, with nearly one third of the population having no access to safe drinking water and 41 percent of children under five are chronically malnourished. Of the required USD 70.9 million in funds to provide urgent lifesaving interventions for the most vulnerable in 2015, UNICEF has received only USD 37 million, just over 50 percent of the required amount, despite the scale of the emergency. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=52684#.Vl_KgF7eums

---

EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE: NEPAL: More than 3million children at risk of death/ disease during harsh winter months

“The plight that children and their families are facing in the country has been worsening by the day and will deteriorate further in the winter months,” said UNICEF Regional Director of UNICEF for South Asia, Karin Hulshof in a news release. Over the past 10 weeks, vital imports of essential commodities have been severely restricted at Nepal’s southern border due to unrest over the country’s new constitution.
According to UNICEF, the Government’s regional medical stores have already run out of BCG vaccines against tuberculosis and stocks of other vaccines and antibiotics are critically low.
“The risks of hypothermia and malnutrition, and the shortfall in life-saving medicines and vaccines, could be a potentially deadly combination for children this winter,” said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake.
Nepal, still recovering from two major earthquakes in April and May, has over 200,000 families affected by the temblors still living in temporary shelters, at an altitude above 1,500 metres where weather conditions will be harshest this winter, explained UNICEF, adding that children could be the most affected.“During my recent visit to Nepal, I witnessed first-hand the precarious living conditions of many of the earthquake survivors. They could now be facing a new disaster – without adequate food, protection from the cold, or healthcare,” added Mr. Lake. Further, UNICEF noted growing fears that the rising dependence on firewood because of the fuel crisis is increasing indoor pollution, which in turn could lead to a spike in cases of pneumonia, as over 800,000 children under five suffer from the condition and around 5,000 children have already died in the last year. Additionally, the 125,000 new-borns expected in Nepal in the next two months are also at particular risk, the agency warned. UNICEF said that ambulance services across the country have been hit by the fuel shortage, resulting in a drop in births in hospitals and health centres and the lack of fuel for heating also increases the risk of hypothermia and death for new-born babies who are not fully capable of controlling their own body temperature. “Children need to be protected from disease, cold and hunger. UNICEF urges all sides to address the restrictions on essential imports of supplies to Nepal. There is no time to lose,” urged Ms. Hulshof.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=52685#.Vl_KbV7eums

CLIMATE CHANGE PEACE BUILDING: Thousands of stateless people granted nationality in Thailand

1 December 2015 – Welcoming Thailand’s announcement that it has granted nationality to more than 18,000 stateless people in the past several years, the United Nations refugee agency today hailed the move as a further step in accelerating the global campaign to end stateless by 2024.
“UNHCR [The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees] welcomes an announcement by the Royal Thai Government that more than 18,000 people have been granted nationality in Thailand in the last three years,” William Spindler, UNHCR Spokesperson, told the regular press briefing in Geneva.
Stateless people hardly enjoy their human rights, have poor access to basic services such as healthcare and education, and have limited employment opportunities, according to a newly-released report by UNHCR.
As such, the agency has worked with the Thai authorities with outreach to affected communities to expedite application process, build capacity and finance the deployment of mobile teams in remote areas. Moreover, UNHCR helps to sensitize communities and assist in application procedures.
The Thai Government, also acknowledging the problem, not only established a legal framework but has enacted legislative changes since 2008.
Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn further launched campaigns to ensure school-aged children and vulnerable people have greater access to nationality.
There are some 443,862 stateless people in Thailand. Many of them are from hill tribes living in remote or border areas, with limited information on accessing to rights and nationality.
“UNHCR hopes that Thailand’s progress in granting nationality can be a positive example to other countries in the region,” said Mr. Spindler, noting that there are more than 10 million stateless people worldwide, over 40 per cent of them from Asia.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=52702#.Vl_GvF7eums

EFFECT OF CLIMATE CHANGE: Flow of refugee and migrant children into Greece doubles

1 December 2015 – About a third of the refugees and migrants who have drowned in the Aegean Sea this year were children, while the number of children applying for asylum in the European Union has doubled compared to 2014, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported today, warning of the increasing perils facing youngsters as winter takes hold.
“So far, the winter had been mild, but this is changing, and the response now is not only about warm clothes, baby socks and blankets, but about providing children with a sense of stability and protection after what they have been through,” UNICEF spokesperson Sarah Crowe told a news briefing in Geneva in the latest update on the influx.
So far this year, children make up over a quarter of the 730,000 sea arrivals in Greece and the flows heading further into Europe through the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia, according to the latest update issued by UNICEF and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
After a slow-down last month, the number of arrivals in Greece has increased again, with 2,500 yesterday, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesperson William Spindler told the briefing. Some 140,000 people crossed the Mediterranean in November compared to 220,000 in October, with the slowdown due to weather and a Turkish crackdown on smuggling.
In October alone, at least 90 children died in the Eastern Mediterranean, with nearly one in five under the age of two. Most of those who have drowned this year are from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, and are under the age of 12.
“Unpredictable border crossings in the Balkans, the procedures taking place at those borders and the harsh winter have compounded challenges facing children on the move,” Ms. Crowe said. “Over the past month, 52 per cent of those crossing the borders in the Balkans were women and children, up from 27 per cent this summer. This crisis now became a crisis for children and their mothers.”
Babies and small children are particularly at risk, as are children with disabilities and special needs, those separated from their families during the journey, stranded children who have exhausted their resources, unaccompanied and separated adolescents, and trafficked children.
“Women who have recently given birth are less resilient to the stresses of the journey and risk being unable to continue breastfeeding, as families are swept along migration routes, through reception centres, and loaded onto buses and trains,” the update stressed.
“Babies are born every day along the migration routes – in very unfavourable conditions – and carried along as newborns… With winter fast approaching, there is a heightened risk of these children dying at sea or on land, or becoming seriously ill with hypothermia or pneumonia. Babies and small children are more at risk of drowning, as they can slip from parents’ arms during shipwrecks.”
Overall, 61 per cent of refugee and migrant arrivals in Greece are from Syria, 22 per cent from Afghanistan, 7 per cent from Iraq, and 3 per cent from Pakistan, all countries affected by conflict, insecurity and political unrest.
About 10 per cent – or 15,000 – of the over 143,000 sea arrivals in Italy are children - 29 per cent from Eritrea, 13 per cent from Syria, 11 per cent from Egypt, 9 per cent from Somalia and 7 per cent from Nigeria.http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=52700#.Vl_HGl7eums

COP21: UN spotlights need to protect forests and agriculture to improve livelihoods, feed the world

1 December 2015 – The impacts of climate change on forests and agriculture were in the spotlight today at the United Nations climate change conference (COP21), as new alliances among organizations and stakeholders were announced aiming to eliminate natural deforestation and forest degradation, and to prevent threats to sustainable farming and people’s livelihoods.
Many of the events on the second day of the global gathering in Paris, France took place in the context of the Lima-Paris Action Agenda (LPAA) – a joint undertaking by the Governments of Peru and France, the Office of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the organizer of the current conference, the 21st meeting of the Convention’s States Parties. The Action Agenda was launched in December 2014 by the previous meeting of the UNFCCC parties in Lima, Peru.
As highlighted in a press release issued by UNFCCC, the LPAA aims to strengthen climate action beyond COP21, by “mobilizing robust global action towards low carbon and resilient societies and providing enhanced support to existing initiatives.”
During the two-week conference, 12 thematic focus events are being organized to expose how climate issues affect various sectors and to suggest relevant solutions to tackle them. On Tuesday, with forests and agriculture taking center stage, leaders from governments, the private and public sectors, civil society and indigenous peoples voiced their environmental concerns.
This included how agriculture, forestry and other land uses are responsible for nearly a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions – about half of that from deforestation and forest degradation, mostly driven by demand for food and wood products and inequities and inefficiencies in the use of land for their production.
“Forest countries in partnership with other governments, the private sector and civil society are set for an increased international effort to eliminate natural deforestation and forest degradation in a few decades,” said Peru’s Minister of the Environment Manuel Pulgar-Vidal speaking at a press conference.
“The success of the LPAA and its action area on Forests relies on effective synergies between state and non-state actors, between investment and forest management – all together rallied behind sustainably managed forests as a common goal,” he added.
According to UN estimates, approximately one billion people depend directly on forests for their livelihoods and each year, approximately 12 million hectares of forest are destroyed. This loss of forest cover is said to be responsible for roughly 11 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Meanwhile, governments and organizations, including the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), announced six new cooperative initiatives that aim to protect the long-term livelihoods of millions of farmer and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The entities highlighted how agriculture is one of the sectors most seriously affected by extreme climate but it also accounts for 24 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions which cause climate change.
The initiatives focus on four key areas: soils in agriculture, the livestock sector, food losses and waste, and sustainable production methods and resilience of farmers. The new partnerships are expected to deploy money and know-how across both developed and developing nations to help hard-pressed farmers become key actors in the global drive to achieve a low-carbon, climate-resilient future.
UNFCCC said today’s events reveal the “effective and concrete progress” that can be made when a wide, international set of stakeholders work together to build resilience and low-carbon systems of production in agricultural and food systems.
 http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=52699#.Vl_ESV7eums