Children across Bangladesh face growing climate risks, with millions exposed to floods, cyclones, malnutrition and disease, as UNICEF warns of deepening threats to health, rights and future survival.
Eight-year-old Maliha is growing up on a fragile island in Rangabali upazila of Patuakhali, where the creeping impacts of climate change are shaping her daily life and health.
Living by the sea, Maliha frequently falls ill from using saline water, suffering from diarrhea and respiratory problems that have become common in her childhood. With low immunity, she remains highly vulnerable to other life-threatening diseases.
Her situation reflects a broader crisis. Like Maliha, many children in coastal and mountainous regions across Bangladesh are grappling with malnutrition and heightened exposure to climate risks.
Bangladeshi children are among the most climate vulnerable in the world. One in every three children in the country is severely exposed to climate hazards. Of them, nearly 50 lakh are under the age of five, while about 1.2 crore live in flood-prone areas. Another 45 lakh children in coastal regions face a high risk from cyclones.
Scientists and experts say global warming, deforestation, industrialization, pollution and rapid urbanization are driving long-term changes in weather patterns. Among these, global warming is identified as the most significant factor behind climate change, intensifying extreme weather events worldwide.
Various institutional studies have identified Bangladesh as one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, with children facing the greatest risks as environmental shocks deepen existing social challenges. In UNICEF’s Children’s Climate Risk Index, Bangladesh ranks 15th among 163 countries.
A UNICEF report warns that climate-related disasters such as floods and cyclones threaten the lives and futures of more than 1.90 crore children in Bangladesh. The report also highlights climate change as a major driver forcing poor families to leave their homes and seek new livelihoods elsewhere.
Dr Ahmad Kamruzzaman Majumder, dean of the Faculty of Science at Stamford University Bangladesh, said children in the country are facing a dual burden of climate impacts and violations of their right to grow up in a safe and healthy environment, a reality that demands urgent attention.
UNICEF Bangladesh has been facilitating regular dialogues between children, parliamentarians and policymakers, creating space for young voices to be heard on issues affecting their lives.
The revised Children’s Climate Declaration underscores that the climate crisis is fundamentally a crisis of children’s rights.
To address these challenges, UNICEF Bangladesh is working with the government to strengthen climate-adapted services in education, healthcare, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene, aiming to build resilience in communities and better prepare children for climate impacts.
Bangladesh currently has nearly 60 lakh climate-related migrants, a number expected to more than double by 2050. Meanwhile, the 45 lakh children living along the coast continue to face repeated exposure to powerful cyclones.
Majumder called on the international community and other stakeholders to support government efforts and initiatives aimed at protecting children from the worsening effects of climate change.
SOURCE: BSS NEWS
