· El Nino is having a devastating impact on children in the Southern Africa region forcing them into early marriage, child labour and out of school, reveals a World Vision report released today
· The EU and its Member States urgently need to fund child protection programmes in the region
BRUSSELS, 19 July 2016 - The report based on expert insight from nine countries in the region found that El Nino was severely impacting the lives of children and their futures. Although El Nino as a climatic phenomenon is now over food insecurity has yet to peak putting 49 million people at risk.
Report findings found that El Nino’s impacts were worsening the lives of children in a number of areas with more migrating out of impoverished areas, facing separation, hunger, sexual exploitation, violence, child labour and psychosocial distress.
Globally, USD3.9 billion has been requested for the 19 worst affected countries, yet the current funding gap is almost USD2.5 billion. The United Nations’ Children Fund (UNICEF) estimates that 26 million children across Eastern and Southern Africa are at risk from malnutrition, water shortages and disease.
“It seems that in disasters like this, children come last,” said Rudo Kwaramba, Regional Leader, World Vision, Southern Africa. The report, Regional Child Protection Rapid Assessment, was designed to explore the various ways children are impacted by a slow-onset emergency, Like El Nino.
“I did not want to marry. I wanted to study,” said a young girl in Mozambique who, aged 14, was forced to marry a man many years older, after her family ran out of food. When her husband started beating her, she ran away.
Of the multi-billions of dollars needed for a comprehensive response only USD11.7m is needed for protection programmes in Southern Africa. Of this amount, only 6% has been pledged by donors.
“The EU and its Member states need to pay more attention to child protection which is one of the most under-funded sector in the response,” said Justin Byworth World Vision Brussels’ Executive Director. “El Nino’s long term impacts on children are shattering. Being forced out of school and into work or into marriage at a young age, it is an unacceptable breach of children’s most basic rights”.
The report is the outcome of an assessment of children’s protection issues in South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Angola, Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It was conducted by World Vision, PLAN International and UNICEF who interviewed child protection experts on what they were seeing happening to children.
ENDS
Key findings included: Child migration - Over 70 percent of respondents cited a lack of food as the driver. Drought and the lack of water was the second most common cause. Child Labour - Just over half of respondents believed that child labour had increased since the start of El Niño and believed that is was more likely to impact boys rather than girls. Unaccompanied and Separated Children - Just under half of the respondents said that parents commonly send their children away due to the lack of food. These children are likely to be between 5-14 years old. School Drop-out - Nearly eighty per cent of responders said school drop-outs had increased since the start of El Niño. In one province in Zimbabwe alone, 6,000 children had dropped out of school due to hunger or the need to help their families with house or farm work.
Full report - http://wvi.org/el-nino/publication/el-nino-children-southern-africa Summary of the report - http://wvi.org/el-nino/publication/el-nino-children-southern-africa-report-summary
Notes to editors
World Vision is a Christian relief, development and advocacy organisation dedicated to working with children, families and communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. It works in close to 100 countries in most regions of the world including Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Asia Pacific Region.
World Vision Brussels’ office represents World Vision members in 12 European countries, including 10 EU member states, as well as the wider international World Vision partnership.
For more information or an interview, please contact Ludovic Wahis, Policy and Communications Officer, World Vision Brussels & EU Representation, +32 (0) 2 274 18 67, Ludovic_Wahis@wvi.org