UNICEF reveals number of Nigerian children displaced by flood in seven years

According to UNICEF, floods have displaced 650,000 Nigerian children, making the country the second most impacted in the world by climate change effects on children.

The displacement happened between 2016 and 2023, according to an information release issued by the United Nations Children's Education Fund, UNICEF, on Monday, coinciding with the 2023 World Children's Day.

The UN agency emphasized that increasing temperatures, floods, droughts, and severe storms threaten nearly 110 million Nigerian children.

Dr. Salisu Dahiru, the Director General of the National Council on Climate Change, emphasized the importance of a quick and inclusive response, with a focus on vulnerable groups such as children and women in decision-making and implementation.

Similarly, UNICEF Representative in Nigeria Christian Munduate emphasized the need to provide a forum for children to express their worries about climate change to shape a communal path toward a sustainable future.

Meanwhile, stakeholders from education, the environment, the media, and related organizations gathered at the Evolution Hotel in Gombe to honour the 2023 World Children's Day by launching the Climate Landscape Analysis for Children (CLAC) in Nigeria.

The UNICEF Bauchi Field Office live-streamed the event, which highlighted important climate threats to children and outlined multi-sectoral climate initiatives planned for Nigeria from 2023 to 2027.

UNICEF officials, Gombe's Commissioner for Education, Professor Aishatu Umar Maigari, Project Coordinator of Agro-Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscape (ACReSAL), and other stakeholders, including media and peace advocates, attended the ceremony.

Veteran journalists Farida Muhammad Dunemia, Alhaji Usman Shehu, Alhaji Aliyu Ardo, and others from Pathway to Peace DW Academia were among those who attended the Gombe launch.

Following the inauguration, UNICEF hosted an inter-school quiz tournament on climate change in conjunction with the Gombe State Ministry of Education, ACReSAL, and Pathway to Peace DW Academia.

The Commissioner declared the tournament open and charged the kids to use the inter-school quiz competition to learn about climate.

She praised UNICEF for launching CLAC and for coming up with the idea of an inter-school climate change competition.

Maigari emphasized the need to continue CLAC and other child-centred interventions to leave a lasting legacy.