About 100 mln Nigerian children face climate change impacts: UNICEF

By XINHUA

ABUJA, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) — An estimated 100 million vulnerable children face climate change impacts in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). “Nigeria is the second most vulnerable country worldwide in terms of children’s exposure to climate change. About 100 million children are confronted with the harsh realities of rising temperatures,” Farah Mahmud, the chief field officer for UNICEF in Nigeria’s northwestern state of Kano, told the media Monday. In light of this development, the UN agency has developed an action plan from 2023-2027 to address certain issues of climate change and the vulnerability of children while integrating climate change in all its interventions across sectors, Mahmud said. “The effective implementation of the projects in Nigeria would build resilience to climate change.” According to the UNICEF official, about 1 billion children are at “extremely high” risk of the impacts of the climate crisis globally. To ensure resilience to climate change, the UN agency had resolved to integrate climate change in whatever projects it implemented, he said. “Nigerian children are also confronted with flooding, drought, and severe storms,” he added. Enditem