The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has revealed that the fund’s Children’s Climate Risk Index (CCRI) has shown that Nigeria is considered at ‘extremely high risk’ of the impacts of climate change, as the country is ranking second out of 163 countries.
This was made known by UNICEF’s representative in Nigeria, Cristian Munduate, in a statement issued and signed by Geoffrey Njoku of the fund’s communication unit.
According to the statement, children in ‘extremely high risk’ countries face a deadly combination of exposure to multiple climate and environmental shocks combined with high levels of underlying child vulnerability, due to inadequate essential services, such as water and sanitation, healthcare and education.
The statement added that more than 2.5 million people in Nigeria are in need of humanitarian assistance and 60 per cent of which are children that are at increased risk of waterborne diseases, drowning and malnutrition due to the most severe flooding in the past decade
“The floods, which have affected 34 out of the 36 states in the country, have displaced 1.3 million people. Over 600 people have lost their lives and over 200,000 houses have either been partially or fully damaged. Cases of diarrhoea and water-borne diseases, respiratory infection, and skin diseases have already been on the rise. In the north-eastern states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe alone, a total of 7,485 cases of cholera and 319 associated deaths were reported as of 12 October,” the statement read.
UNICEF further stated that the floods are adding another layer of complexity to an already precarious humanitarian situation in the country, noting that immediate priority needs for children include health, water, sanitation, and hygiene; as well as shelter and food.
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