We, the Youth of Africa, declare a humanitarian crisis induced by climate change on our continent. Despite Africa contributing less than 4% of the historical global emissions, the brutal slow and rapid onset extreme weather events such as heat waves, droughts, floods, landslides, storms and cyclones are ravaging lives and livelihoods, forcing the most vulnerable rural, urban and island communities to move. In response to this urgency, and building on the East and Horn of Africa Youth Key Messages to the ‘Kampala Ministerial Declaration on Migration, Environment & Climate Change’, we present this declaration echoing our critical voices, key recommendations, demands and commitments to address climate change and its impact on human mobility (climate mobility).
Indeed, we can not stress enough the inextricable linkage between climate change and human mobility on our continent. According to the ReliefWeb 2022 report, 36.1 million people have been affected by droughts in the Horn of Africa and famine in Somalia. Similarly, the prolonged droughts in East Africa are causing famine, food insecurity and starvation in North Eastern Uganda and Eastern Kenya. The recent 2022 floods in Nigeria have displaced more than 1.3 million people and killed over 600. Similar events are happening in other parts of Africa and with no proactive measures, we will witness more climate migrants. For example, the World Bank projects about 19.3 million climate migrants in North Africa by 2050.
Given that we the youth account for about 60% of Africa’s population, and recognising that climate disasters disproportionately affect children, young people and women, it is imperative that action is taken to address the impacts of climate change on the mobility of youth and other vulnerable groups, build the resilience of those at risk and protect those already on the move in the face of climate change.
Thus, we call upon all parties, governments, the United Nations (UN), the African Union, especially building on the proceedings of the “7th Pan-African Forum on Migration (PAFOM)”, financial institutions, Civil Society, all decision-makers and other relevant stakeholders to take the following demands and recommendations into utmost consideration, and work with African youth as partners to address the climate change and human mobility nexus, harness the transformative potential of human mobility and deliver on Agenda 2030 in the face of climate change.
This declaration is divided into three sections; urgent demands requiring urgent response, our wider demands divided thematically, and our commitments.
