Save The Children International’s Generation Hope campaign raises awareness of climate change in Nigeria amid reports that children suffer the most.
The child-led advocacy and campaign initiative will use various methods to spread the message that climate change threatens children’s survival, learning, and development.
At the Abuja campaign launch, Save the Children Nigeria’s Acting Country Director, Amanuel Mamo, said the climate and inequality crisis were risk multipliers that weakened children and communities’ resilience to shocks.
He stated that if it is not urgently addressed, the frequency and severity of humanitarian and cost of living crises may continue to increase in the years ahead, so pragmatic actions are needed to raise awareness and change behaviour and practise that exacerbate climate change.
“The climate crisis is a child rights crisis,” said SCI director Mamo. It’s about children’s survival, development, learning, protection, and rights.
“We cannot talk about achieving the Sustainable Development Goals or claiming to be making progress in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child until we address climate change as it has a direct link to poverty, hunger, education, protection, and access to good health.”
He said that even though children contribute little to climate change, they must be included in all climate change efforts to achieve success.
Ifedili-Chukwu Innocent, Survivive’s Advocacy and Campaign Manager, said the campaign was launched to protect children from climate change’s ripple effect, saying children contribute less but suffer more.
“The launch of the campaign is to recognise that elders’ activities are now causing issues and challenges for children,” he said. We are campaigning for government, traditional rulers, and religious leaders to take action.
Ifedili-Chukwu said government policies should encourage tree planting and provide funding.
The Deputy Speaker of the Children’s Parliament, Rt Honorable Ibrahim Zinna Sumamu, said Generation Hope is campaigning to improve children’s lives because climate change is real and affecting our planet. The campaign programme will address these issues if properly implemented.
“We want government to take the lead and carry children along in efforts to stop climate change especially planting of trees,” he said, urging stakeholders to fund the campaign.
“We also want to see government take effective efforts to reduce climate change to avoid and must always be ready for emergencies.”
The Deputy Speaker complimented SCI for bringing children and putting them at the frontline of the campaign, noting that children are always vulnerable to disasters. Children may speak out here.
