IOM and UNICEF Renew Partnership to Protect, Include and Empower Climate-Displaced Children

Baku, 12 November 2024 – The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have renewed their collaboration to ensure migrant and displaced children are protected before, during and after climate-related migration and displacement – and have access to critical social services. There were 120 million displaced people at the end of 2023, with children and youth the invisible majority.  

“The impacts of climate change drive millions of children from their homes every year,” said Amy Pope, Director General of IOM. “This renewed IOM-UNICEF partnership prioritizes and strengthens the protection and well-being of the youngest and most vulnerable populations.” 

Signed at the 29th UN Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP29) to emphasize the connection between children, young people and the future of our planet, the agreement formalized under a four-year Strategic Collaboration Framework will cover the period between 2024 and 2028 and build on the successful collaboration started in 2022.  

Millions of children are already being driven from their homes by weather-related events, exacerbated by climate change. From extreme heat to floods, droughts and hurricanes, the impacts of climate change and displacement continue to intensify. Climate change is not only an environmental issue; it is a protection crisis, disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable children and families. The renewed partnership recognizes the need to address how climate change, migration and child rights intersect – and to prioritize children’s protection and well-being. 

Building on joint efforts to establish Guiding Principles on Children on the Move in the context of Climate Change, IOM and UNICEF will work to comparative advantage to prepare children and young people to live in a climate changed world and strengthen the services they need to build their resilience and reach their full potential. 

“Children and young people who have been uprooted by climate shocks – in places like the Horn of Africa, the Sahel and Southeast Asia – have the lived experiences and ideas to better mitigate and adapt to climate change. They must be partners in shaping solutions,” said Catherine Russell, UNICEF Executive Director. “Through this partnership, we will work for, and with, migrant and displaced children and youth, to ensure their needs and priorities are included in climate action, policy and finance.” 

The agreement also focuses on solutions to internal displacement. The number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) globally continues to rise year on year, with over 75 million people living in displacement at the end of 2023. As displacement becomes increasingly protracted, children are spending their entire childhoods displaced, often excluded from critical services and exposed to protection risks and discrimination. As the mandate of the Special Adviser on Solutions to Internal Displacement concludes in 2024, IOM and UNICEF are committed to ensure that prevention and solutions to displacement effectively address the needs and vulnerabilities of children.  

To deliver on the commitments made under the Paris Agreement, Warsaw International Mechanism on Loss and Damage, the Sendai Framework and the Secretary General’s Action Agenda on Internal Displacement, IOM and UNICEF encourage governments, donors, development partners and the private sector, to join forces to protect, include and empower children on the move – for better outcomes for children today – and more resilient communities and countries tomorrow. 

For more information, please contact: 

IOM : Chloe Lavau, clavau@iom.int  

UNICEF: Helen Wylie, hwylie@unicef.org