• Call for Climate Action to Protect Education
Esther Salifu
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has emphasized the need to prioritize education in climate-related policies.
The Executive Director UNICEF, Catherine Russell, disclosed in a report on Thursday revealing that 242 million students across 85 countries were forced to miss classes in 2024 due to severe weather events such as heatwaves, storms, floods, and droughts.
According to the Report, severe weather events in Europe disrupted education for hundreds of thousands of students. In Italy, torrential rains and floods in September affected over 900,000 students, while October floods in Spain impacted 13,000 children and teenagers, according to UNICEF.
Russell said “Education is frequently disrupted by climate hazards, yet it’s often overlooked in policy discussions. However, it plays a vital role in preparing children for climate adaptation. Children’s futures must be at the forefront of all climate-related plans and actions.”
“As we’ve seen, severe weather kept one in seven students out of class last year, threatening their health, safety, and long-term education,” she warned.
A recent report by UNICEF highlighted the devastating impact of extreme climate events on education worldwide. According to the report, heatwaves pose the most significant threat to education, causing widespread school closures and disruptions.
The countries most affected by climate-related school interruptions were Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Mozambique, Pakistan, and the Philippines. Alarmingly, 74% of affected students resided in low- and lower-middle-income countries, although no region was spared from the consequences of extreme weather events.
South Asia bore the brunt of these disruptions, with 128 million students impacted. The East Asia and Pacific region also faced significant disruptions, affecting 50 million students. Furthermore, Africa suffered devastating consequences linked to the El Niño climate phenomenon, including floods in East Africa and severe droughts in parts of southern Africa.
