The United Nations agencies have sounded a clarion call highlighting the dire health risks that pregnant women, newborns, and children are facing in the wake of climate catastrophes, necessitating immediate attention. They have implored world leaders to prioritize safeguarding the vulnerable demographic from the reverberating impacts of climate change.

Rt Hon Helen Clark, PMNCH Board Chair and former Prime Minister of New Zealand, emphasized the imperative nature of protecting the health and rights of women, children, and adolescents in the face of the current climate crisis. She articulated, “Climate change is a major intergenerational injustice of our times. Safeguarding the health and rights of women, children, and adolescents is non-negotiable.”

In a recent Call for Action released before the global Conference of the Parties (COP) negotiations on climate change in Dubai, UN agencies brought attention to the overlooked effects of climate events on maternal and child health. The document underscored a glaring omission in the climate change discourse, where very few countries’ climate change response plans address maternal or child health needs, signifying an inadequate allocation of attention to these vulnerable groups.

The Call to Action outlined seven pressing measures to mitigate these escalating risks, including sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, action on climate finance, and the explicit integration of the needs of pregnant women, newborns, and children within climate and disaster-related policies.

Diene Keita, the Deputy Executive Director for Programmes at UNFPA, stressed that acknowledging the distinct health needs and vulnerabilities of women and girls is imperative in formulating climate solutions. Keita asserted, “Global climate solutions must support – not sacrifice – gender equality.”

Bruce Aylward, the Assistant Director-General for Universal Health Coverage, Life Course at the World Health Organization, highlighted the grave consequences that children and pregnant women face due to climate change. Aylward emphasized the necessity of conscious protection of children’s futures by taking immediate climate action for the sake of their health and survival, while ensuring the recognition of their unique needs in the climate response.