We must not forget the crises that the children of the world will carry into 2023 

As we head into the new year, we cannot afford to leave the world’s most vulnerable children behind.  

As you head into a new year, consider this disturbing fact: the number of children in need of  humanitarian support across the world grew by the equivalent of Australia’s entire population in  2022. 

Our analysis shows there were 149 million children in need in 2022, an increase of 26 million  children from the previous year, due to new and protracted conflict, skyrocketing hunger, and the  climate crisis. 

Children like 12-year-old Alisha, who clung onto her mother, Zainab, at an aid distribution centre in  Sindh Province, one of the worst flood-affected provinces in Pakistan.  

It had been a few weeks since the initial deluge, but a third of the country was still underwater and  families had been displaced, with nowhere to go.  

Even before the floods hit, Zainab struggled to support her family and her children,relying heavily on  others in her village to provide them with food and money to survive. Alisha contracted Polio as a young child and lives with a disability as a result.  

Then, during the flooding disaster, Zainab and her seven children lost everything. All they had with  them when they went to seek aid was the clothes on their backs.  

Alisha and her siblings are among at least 10 million children in the world who were displaced as a  result of climate change in 2020, a number that has only since increased. The floods in Pakistan were  labelled ground zero for the climate crisis in 2022, and months after the waters have receded 8.8 million girls and boys in the country require immediate, lifesaving support. 

The disastrous flooding in Pakistan made news headlines for a few short weeks, but children and  communities are still in need of humanitarian assistance. This need will persist well into the new  year.  

And Pakistan is not the only crisis in danger of being overlooked or forgotten.  

This year, the world took one step out of the COVID-19 pandemic and another into the worst global  cost of living crisis in a generation. We are seeing soaring hunger as conflict, climate change and the  economic fallout from COVID-19 cause food insecurity. 

In developed economies, social safety nets often allow children to emerge from the stress of the  pandemic and continue their development and education. But the reality in many countries is that  children are unable to go to school, play with their friends, or eat enough to keep them going.  

The UN’s Global Humanitarian Overview for 2023 finds that one in every 23 people will need  humanitarian assistance to survive next year – a staggering 24% increase from a year ago. We know  that children are the worst impacted in disasters and emergencies, and these crises are chronically  underfunded.

Along with Pakistan, the countries where the highest number of children need essential services  include Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Yemen, and Syria. 

The confluence of conflict, climate change and the soaring cost of living is causing so much suffering. 

“When the floods hit, we ran from our home to save our lives and left everything else behind: Our  house, our clothes, everything we need to live,” said Humaira, a 14-year-old girl who stood in line  near Alisha at the aid distribution centre in Pakistan. 

She watched as her home and school were completely decimated by the floods, and her family lost  all their crops, which were nearing harvest. 

We have found that approximately one-third of the world’s children – an estimated 774 million – are  now living with the dual impacts of poverty and high climate risk. Meanwhile, the number of  children living in countries with the deadliest conflicts increased by 10% this year. 

While some of these crises seem far removed from our lives, Australia has an important part to play to better protect children facing multiple crises – starting with an increase to the humanitarian aid  budget. 

Every one of us has the power to make a difference. We have the power to influence our MPs to  make change – real change – and ensure that 2023 is a better year for all children.  

We owe it to children like Alisha and Humaira to do better, and to ensure that as we head into the  new year, crises like the one facing Pakistan are not forgotten.