Climate crisis creates negative coping mechanisms: UN

ANKARA (AA) - Food insecurity due to climate change and armed conflicts in Horn of Africa may force families to adopt negative coping mechanisms, including school drop-outs and early marriage, the UN said in a report Friday.

“Climatic shocks significantly increase protection risks due to family separation, with male breadwinners moving in search of livelihoods, placing children and women at risk of gender-based violence, exploitation and isolation from humanitarian assistance," the report said.

“Heavy rainfall and flooding have impacted Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda, affecting nearly 2.8 million people, displacing tens of thousands, and destroying large swathes of crops,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in the report.

The report said: “There are concerns regarding increased school drop-outs, in a region where at least 12.4 million children are already out of school.”

“As highlighted in 2017, droughts in the Horn of Africa tend to increase older people’s vulnerabilities, negatively affect their traditional roles and increase the household burdens they face. In the face of increasing shocks, people with disabilities are often marginalized and may be literally left behind,” it said.

The report also highlighted climate change creates conditions conducive to the spread of communicable diseases, such as chikungunya, cholera, dengue and measles outbreaks.