Children across Eastern and Southern Africa are increasingly bearing the brunt of the climate crisis, with a new UNICEF Children’s Climate Risk Report 2026 warning that overlapping climate shocks are disrupting essential services and deepening inequality.
Released on the Day of the African Child, the report reveals that more than 65 million children in the region — nearly one in four — are already exposed to three or more climate-related hazards, including droughts, floods, wildfires and tropical storms.
According to UNICEF, the growing frequency and intensity of these climate shocks are undermining children’s rights and threatening their health, safety and education. Critical services that children depend on, particularly water, sanitation, healthcare and learning systems, are increasingly being damaged or disrupted by extreme weather events.
The agency warned that without urgent investment in climate adaptation and resilient public services, millions more children could face heightened vulnerability, worsening poverty and reduced access to essential services.
“On the Day of the African Child, this report is a timely reminder that the climate crisis is increasingly becoming a child rights crisis,” said Etleva Kadilli, UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa. “When climate disasters strike, the impact multiplies. Water systems fail. Schools close. Clinics are damaged. This is how inequality deepens and children’s futures are put at risk.”
UNICEF’s Children’s Climate Risk Report 2026 combines children’s exposure to climate hazards with their vulnerability, including access to healthcare, clean water, education, nutrition and social protection, helping identify where risks are greatest and where investments will be most effective.
Somalia and Madagascar are among the countries with the highest overall exposure to multiple climate hazards globally, meaning children face a wide range of recurring climate threats.
Children in South Sudan, meanwhile, are among those most exposed to multiple high-intensity hazards when climate shocks are particularly severe.
Access to safe water and sanitation is one of the factors used by the report to assess children’s vulnerability to climate risks. In 2024, one in three people in the region still lacked at least basic drinking water, while two in three lacked basic sanitation and hygiene services.
The report further highlights the critical role climate-resilient water and sanitation services play in protecting children’s health, learning and wellbeing. Investments such as flood-protected infrastructure, diversified water sources and solar-powered pumping can help keep schools, health facilities and communities functioning during climate shocks.
“Water systems are under immense pressure,” continued Kadilli. “When boreholes dry up or floods contaminate water sources, children lose access not only to clean drinking water, but to safe schools and functioning health facilities. Climate-resilient water and sanitation services are not a luxury; they are a lifeline for children’s health, learning and future opportunities.”
The agency calls for urgent action which includes prioritising children in climate adaptation programming, ensuring that health, nutrition, water and sanitation, education, child protection and social protection systems are climate-resilient and fully integrated into National Adaptation Plans, Nationally Determined Contribution plans and disaster response strategies.
It further roots for direct climate finance to where children’s risks are highest, including mobilising resources for fragile and high-risk contexts, together with simplified approval processes for smaller, high-impact resilience investments.
Another intervention is to leverage emerging financing mechanisms, including the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD), to rebuild and climate-proof child-critical services such as clinics, schools, water systems, and shock-responsive social protection programmes.
“Financing must match the scale of the threat. Investing in climate-resilient, critical essential services is not just about managing disasters; it is about protecting children’s rights today and safeguarding Africa’s future prosperity,” concluded Kadilli.
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