Send message to Authors

Paper short abstract:

Climate hazards impact children's well-being across Africa. This research examines the link between climate risks and child poverty, using a literature review and empirical analysis of survey data and historical climate hazard data. Findings inform climate-sensitive social protection programs.

Paper long abstract:

Climate hazards like flooding and drought severely impact the wellbeing of children across Africa. Sustainable Development Goal 13 calls for building resilience and adaptive capacity to climate hazards. This article presents multi-country research offering actionable recommendations for strengthening the resilience of children and families in response to climate change.

First, we review existing literature linking major climate hazards to child poverty. Adopting a multidimensional poverty framework, we summarise evidence connecting climate hazards to material deprivations that undermine children’s constitutive rights.

Second, we provide empirical evidence on the geographic overlap between multidimensional child poverty and exposure to past climate hazards across selected African countries. We combine nationally representative child-level survey data from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys and Demographic and Health Surveys with historical climate hazard data extracted from public online databases, like the Global Flood Database. Through regression analysis, we assess whether child poverty rates are higher in regions exposed to flooding, drought, and heatwaves.

Third, we discuss how our findings can inform climate-sensitive social protection programmes that safeguard child rights. These programmes should integrate climate risk insurance and prioritize high-risk groups based on equity considerations, aiming for universal coverage. Environmental sustainability and financial constraints in low- and middle-income countries must also be considered.

Our findings offer valuable insights into the intersection of climate hazards, child poverty, and social protection. Our empirical analysis opens new avenues for generating evidence to inform social policy models tailored to the specific needs of children and their families in the context of climate change.