{"id":12221,"date":"2015-11-10T17:18:52","date_gmt":"2015-11-10T17:18:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/?p=12221"},"modified":"2018-04-22T12:03:32","modified_gmt":"2018-04-22T16:03:32","slug":"millions-of-childrens-lives-at-stake-as-el-nino-strengthens-unicef-wake-up-call-report-warns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/blog\/2015\/11\/millions-of-childrens-lives-at-stake-as-el-nino-strengthens-unicef-wake-up-call-report-warns\/","title":{"rendered":"Millions of children\u2019s lives at stake as El Ni\u00f1o strengthens, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵICEF \u2018wake-up call\u2019 report warns"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a result of a strengthening El Ni\u00f1o, the United Nations Children\u2019s Fund (Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵICEF<\/a>) is warning that an estimated 11 million children are at risk from hunger, disease and lack of water in eastern and southern Africa alone, as the weather phenomenon has left droughts and floods in its wake throughout parts of Asia, the Pacific and Latin America.<\/p>\n

\u201cChildren and their communities need our help to recover from the impact of El Ni\u00f1o and to prepare for the further damage it could unleash,\u201d said Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake a press release<\/a> .<\/p>\n

Besides the immediate risks of death and injury, El Ni\u00f1o can lead to significant increases in diseases, such as malaria, dengue fever, diarrhoea and cholera \u2013 major killers of children. When extreme weather deprives communities of their livelihoods, young children often suffer from undernutrition that puts them at greater risk for illness, delayed mental development and premature death.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe consequences could ripple through generations unless affected communities receive support amid crop failures and lack of access to drinking water that are leaving children malnourished and at risk of killer diseases,\u201d said Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵICEF in a new report, A Wake UP Call: El Ni\u00f1o\u2019s Impact on Children<\/a>.<\/p>\n

World leaders will head to Paris for the 21st Meeting of States Parties to the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Framework Convention on Climate Change, known as COP21<\/a>, from 30 November to 11 December. The goal is to reach a universal, binding agreement aimed at limiting global warming by cutting greenhouse emissions.<\/p>\n

Mr. Lake underscored that the intensity and potential destructiveness of El Ni\u00f1o \u201cshould be a wake-up call\u201d as world leaders gather in Paris. \u201cAs they debate an agreement on limiting global warming, they should recall that the future of today\u2019s children and of planet they will inherit is at stake.\u201d<\/p>\n

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While El Ni\u00f1os are not caused by climate change, scientists believe they are becoming more intense as a result of it. A number of the countries experiencing El Ni\u00f1o are those facing the gravest threat from climate change \u2013 many also have high poverty levels.<\/p>\n

The weather phenomenon, among the strongest on record, is likely to cause more floods and droughts, fuel Pacific typhoons and cyclones and, if it continues strengthening as forecast over the coming months, affect more areas.<\/p>\n

\"11-10-unicef-el-nino\"<\/a><\/p>\n

According to Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵICEF, some of the countries most affected by El Ni\u00f1o include<\/p>\n