World leaders need to step up and take climate action; UNICEF warns after hit of three monstrous storms

New York, May 4: “Consecutive cyclones should be an urgent wake-up call to world leaders on the grave risks that extreme whether events pose to the lives of children’’, said UNICEF on Friday after the three deadly cyclones i.e. cyclone Idai, cyclone Kenneth and cyclone Fani struck major parts of Asia and Africa.

 

 

Mozambique has been hard hit by two back-to-back cyclones i.e. cyclone Idai and cyclone Kenneth since the last month and cyclone Fani on the east coast of India has added fuel to the fire. These cyclones haves raised concerns for the UNICEF as children are being worst affected in this horror crisis.

 

According to UNICEF, more than 1,20,000 children were badly affected in cyclone Kenneth, the strongest storm Mozambique has ever recorded. Cyclone Kenneth came just six weeks after cyclone Idai slammed the country, affecting 1 million children. The disaster has severely damaged at least 400 schools affecting around 40000 schoolchildren and has also caused spread of Cholera.

 

While in India, around 10 million children have been caught in cyclone Fani, India’s strongest cyclone in the last 20 years, UNICEF report said.

 

UNICEF’s Executive Director Henrietta Fore said, “We are witnessing a worrisome trend. Cyclones, draughts and other extreme whether events are increasing in frequency and intensity. For children who are already vulnerable, the impact can be devastating.’’

 

“This is not business as usual. Climate change is linked to rising sea levels and the increase in rainfall associated with cyclones, causing more devastation in coastal but also inland areas. Children will bear the brunt of these disasters and cycles of poverty will linger and limit the capacity of families and communities to adapt to climate change,’’ said Gautam Narasimhan, UNICEF senior advisor on climate change.