Climate change identified as hindering child access to healthy diet

Campaign launched to raise awareness to impact of the natural disaster on children

By Ashywyne Vambe

Extreme weather conditions have been identified as some of the grim factors that continue to jeopardise children’s access to a healthy diet essential to their growth and upkeep.

Speaking at a launch event of the Communication Campaign on Climate Change in Harare on Wednesday, UNICEF Chief of Communications Specialist Yves Willemot observed that a lot of children were vulnerable to climate impacts that worsen their situation.

He said this has brought some additional risks to their rights and further reduced their access to basic necessities.

In Zimbabwe, climate change has affected children particularly through recurrent heat waves, severity of floods, tropical cyclones and droughts.

Willemot stated that currently, 2,4 percent of the Multilateral Climate Funds are globally set aside for children and young people.

So as to increase the number of those who benefit, UNICEF has put in place measures that include putting the children at the centre of climate change policies as well as empower children and young people to be environmental stewards and climate change agents, Willemot said.

The campaign is set to run for the next three months beginning April till end of June this year under the theme, “Invest in Climate Invest in Children”.

It is aimed at raising awareness on the impact of climate change on children.