Children of the new generation are affected by the impact of climate change
Rifat, a five-year-old child. At an age when he should have had a pen in his hand and a bag of books on his shoulder, he spends his time bending down to provide wood for the family.
The four-year-old girl Putul spends most of the day fetching water from a tap that is about 300 meters away in a house located on a hill about 40 feet high. This is how children of families affected by climate change have to spend their days.
Recently, this picture has emerged in a survey of climate refugees in Chattagram city in Bangladesh. Even though the country’s children have no role in climate change, children are paying the highest price.
A child who lost their home to natural disasters like cyclones, tidal waves, floods, river erosion, and landslides moved to the city with their family to survive. They have no knowledge of climate change.
But to the selfish climate change is to lose every moment of childhood, adolescence or young adulthood. Most of the children of this generation are growing up with an uncertain future.
Bangladesh ranks 15th out of 163 countries in UNICEF’s Children’s Climate Risk Index.
A 2019 UNICEF report shows that over 19 million children in Bangladesh are at risk from climate change-related floods, river erosion, cyclones, and other environmental disasters.
Bangladesh ranks seventh in the world among countries at risk due to climate change. About 185 natural disasters have hit Bangladesh in the last two decades. And people and wildlife in the coastal areas of this country are most at risk from climate change.
Children of the new generation affected by climate change lag behind in behavior, skills and memory compared to normal children, suffering from malnutrition and their full physical and mental development is interrupted. Children have less adaptive capacity than adults and are more vulnerable to climate change.
As a result, they suffer from malnutrition, diarrhea and other life-threatening diseases due to their low immunity. Many children nowadays are not going to school because their families are moving, they are poor, or they don’t have a stable place to live.
Being burdened by the scourge of poverty, he/she is again involved in hard work. In this, an inefficient labor market is developing, whose efficiency the country is failing to utilize. There are two problems: poverty is hard to escape, and many people cannot improve their lives.
Many families are marrying off their young daughters at a hurried pace. This is disrupting the healthy life of girls due to various physical complications. If these children had access to proper education and a normal life, their development would have improved.
About four decades ago, from Sandwip, a sea island in the Bay of Bengal, the house was lost in the sea. Rafiq’s family sought refuge in Sandwip Colony, located in Ward No. 1 of the Chattagram City Corporation. At that time, the helpless father was struggling to survive with the family in the battle of life and was unable to meet the basic needs of his children including education due to poverty.
As a result, they are deprived of the light of education and civic benefits. Rafiq is currently immersed in the cycle of poverty and poverty in his family life as well. He said that even if he tries to make a living as a day laborer, he only works on the day when his luck is good, or he spends the day looking for a way. This is how direct impact of climate change is evident from generation to generation.
Climate refugee children come to urban areas in search of work due to family shortages, on the one hand, they are involved in various heavy and risky jobs and are considered as child labor. On the other hand, going astray and getting involved in criminal activities. Children suffer the most in every crisis.
The same has happened with climate change. Children are most at risk as climate change exacerbates social problems. Therefore, children’s issues need to be taken into account when planning to deal with the risks of climate change.
NGOs should work with the government to protect children impacted by climate change and raise awareness. It is important to include climate refugees in mainstream society and implement their basic rights.
Also, to change the fate of these less fortunate people through a tolerant employment system. We must prioritize the care of climate refugees to avoid further environmental crises and protect biodiversity.
