Global Protection Update: Climate Crisis: A Human Rights Crisis, September 2022

We are pleased to share with you our new Global Protection Update which covers most recent protection trends reported by our field Protection Clusters. 

In the third quarter of this year, we have seen the protection crisis in our operations deepen due to the converging challenges of climate change, rising food insecurity, armed conflict, and economic downturn. The climate crisis is becoming a human rights crisis – with its effects lingering for years to come. Climate change driven floods and drought-related food insecurity are now impacting millions of people, causing displacement, conflict and increased protection risks. 

Several protection risks have been of great concern during the reporting period, with an increase in forced family and child separation, forced labour, slavery and trafficking in persons and forced recruitment across operations. 94% of operations describe gender-based violence as severe or extreme. A steep increase of 13 points from three months ago. 

Attacks on civilians remained high in most operations, with 88% of operations classifying the risk of forced displacement and impediments to freedom of movement as severe or extreme. Haiti, Burkina Faso, Somalia and Myanmar have been on our Crisis Watch of Alarming Situations. 

This report features good practices from our Protection Clusters in Mozambique, Niger, Philippines, Pacific, Somalia, and Syria, where we exert efforts to provide more effective coordination to address specific vulnerabilities caused by climate change that give rise to new patterns of protection risks. It highlights the use of protection tools, programming, and collective advocacy – calling for urgent action on climate change and the effective enjoyment of a range of human rights for people bearing the brunt of a climate crisis they didn’t create.