Climate Change
Josephine Bauro looks like your average teenager, walking home from school in the company of her classmates. As children of Kiribati, however, she and her friends grew up experiencing what their textbook outlined were the consequences of global warming. “Crops we used to have do not exist anymore and most attempts at planting are unsuccessful because they just die from the salt water,” Bauro explained.
“The leaves are not so green anymore and we are reaching a stage now where the changes are also bringing up new challenges but also more questions.”
Bauro says her peers, growing up with the impact of climate change is just part of life, “until people start saying in 50 years, your islands will disappear.”
“That’s scary,” she says quietly. “To imagine the islands you call home will be underwater in 50 years is a big thing to take in but we just do what we can for now.”
UNICEF Pacific is working to address the challenges of climate change for children like Josephine from Kiribati by addressing climate change, disaster risk reduction and emergencies from an integrated perspective.
For WASH and food security, UNICEF is increasingly partnering with SPC, FAO and other regional partners active in social impact of climate change, and with OCHA, ISDR and others on disaster risk reduction (DRR).
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