Weather-related disasters forcibly displaced a staggering 43.1 million children in 44 countries over the past six years, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said.

That number shows an alarming daily average of 20,000 displaced youngsters.

Children Displaced in a Changing Climate, UNICEF's most recent report, contains the findings. It is the first global analysis ever done on child displacements brought on by floods, storms, droughts, and wildfires. Additionally, it predicts patterns for the following three decades.

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Catherine Russell, UNICEF Executive Director, emphasized the scale of the crisis.

“It is terrifying for any child when a ferocious wildfire, storm or flood barrels into their community,” she said.

“For those who are forced to flee, the fear and impact can be especially devastating, with worry of whether they will return home, resume school, or be forced to move again … As the impacts of climate change escalate, so too will climate-driven movement,” she added.

The head of UNICEF called for urgent action to prepare communities, protect children at risk of displacement, and support those already uprooted.

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China and the Philippines topped the list in terms of the absolute number of child displacements, largely due to their exposure to extreme weather events, substantial child populations, and improved early warning and evacuation capabilities, according to UNICEF.

However, when considering the proportion of displaced children relative to the child population, small island States such as Dominica and Vanuatu were the most severely affected by storms, while Somalia and South Sudan bore the brunt of flooding-related displacements.

Haiti, which is already at high risk of disaster-related child displacement, also faces violence and poverty, with limited investments in risk mitigation and preparedness, and in Mozambique, the poorest communities, including those in urban areas, bear the disproportionate brunt of extreme weather events.

Of the recorded child displacements between 2016 and 2021, floods and storms accounted for a staggering 40.9 million, or 95 per cent. This was due in part to better reporting and preemptive evacuation efforts. Droughts triggered more than 1.3 million internal displacements of children, with Somalia again among the most affected. 

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Wildfires were responsible for 810,000 child displacements, with more than a third occurring in 2020 alone, and mostly in Canada, Israel and the United States.

As countries gear up for the COP28 climate conference in November, UNICEF is urging governments, development partners and the private sector to take immediate action in protecting children and young people who are vulnerable to future displacement.