The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said today (Thursday) that girls face a greater risk of dropping out of school when their schools are exposed to heat waves, storms or forest fires linked to climate change.
An analysis conducted by the organization showed that severe weather events last year negatively affected one in ten students, meaning more than 171 million in 106 countries or territories.
But girls were the most affected when schools were damaged, classes were canceled, or they switched to distance education, according to UNICEF.
The analysis stated that “girls are more likely to drop out of school when climate events disrupt studies or close schools.”
He added, “Damage to schools and sanitation facilities, displacement, and loss of family income can lead to girls being given additional responsibilities related to care work and fetching water.”
The organization explained, “These pressures can also increase the risk of child marriage, making it more difficult for girls to return to the classroom when schools reopen.”
According to the analysis, storms were the most common cause of disruptions in education, and last year they affected 109 million students around the world.
Floods affected at least 70 million people, while heat waves disrupted the studies of about 50 million children and young people.
The agency stated that it changed its methodology and based its analysis on information from relief agencies and local media instead of government figures.
UNICEF stated that about one billion children, equivalent to almost half of the world's children, live in countries facing very high risks from climate and environmental shocks.
It was estimated that the loss of learning opportunities and the resulting consequences for literacy and numeracy skills could lead to lifetime income losses of at least $200 billion, in addition to exacerbating global inequalities.
The analysis indicated that most children come from low- or low-middle-income countries, countries where “education systems often lack the resources necessary to ensure continued learning during climate-related emergencies.”
UNICEF called on governments and its partners to increase spending on building new educational facilities capable of withstanding climate and environmental threats.
Documents published by the Spanish government, today (Wednesday), showed that Spanish intelligence services warned their Moroccan and Madrid counterparts of plans to storm Ceuta, one day before more than 70,000 migrants crossed into the Spanish enclave in North Africa.
In a memorandum dated July 29 to the two Moroccan intelligence agencies, the General Directorate of National Territorial Surveillance and the General Directorate of Studies and Documents (Foreign Intelligence), the Spanish National Intelligence Center warned of plans on social media platforms for migrants to enter Ceuta by climbing the border fence or swimming around it, taking advantage of Morocco’s Throne Day celebrations.
Declassified WhatsApp messages showed that the National Intelligence Center also warned the Spanish government representative in Ceuta on the same day of these plans.
“There are two different groups with a total of 180,000 followers,” the center wrote in reference to activity on social media. This is just to give you an idea of the scope of this matter.
Six weeks after the wave of influx, during which non-governmental organizations estimate that 140 people died, local authorities say that more than 10,000 migrants, including unaccompanied minors, are still in Ceuta and living in temporary camps or on the streets and beaches of the enclave, fueling almost daily protests from residents angry at the way the Spanish government is handling the crisis.
The publication of these documents is likely to intensify scrutiny of operational decisions taken in the hours preceding the crossing, and whether sufficient measures were taken to prevent it.
No flow range warnings
But Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albarez said that the documents showed that there was no warning about the scope of the wave of migrants that occurred on July 30.
Albares added to reporters today, “I am speaking in my capacity as Spain’s Foreign Minister, within the framework of my powers and based on what I experienced that day.” “I was not aware of any information of any kind indicating the scope of this massive wave.”
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez stated last week that Spain had not found any evidence confirming that the border flow that occurred in July from Morocco to Ceuta was orchestrated by the Moroccan authorities.
But a report issued on July 30 showed that the Spanish Ministry of the Interior pointed to the inaction of the Moroccan border police on the day of the influx of migrants, and said that it was supposed to strengthen border security with an additional thousand police and soldiers despite an official holiday in Morocco.
Today, the Spanish government published 40 intelligence reports, alerts and messages related to the migration crisis in Ceuta from July 1 to July 31, after Sanchez pledged to publish them.
These documents show that the crisis was escalating during the week preceding the mass crossing.
“Since July 25, a migration crisis has worsened in Ceuta with the arrival of about 1,700 migrants by sea from Morocco to the autonomous city... Available information indicates that further infiltrations are expected in the very near term,” the Spanish Ministry of Defense said in an internal presentation published on July 30, describing the situation on the Moroccan coast near Ceuta as “migratory chaos.”
