CAPE TOWN, South Africa, July 9 (NewsDay Live) - Researchers serving on the Swedish-funded SRHR, HIV and AIDS Governance Project of the Sadc Parliamentary Forum have called for urgent, integrated, and child-responsive climate action across southern Africa.
The researchers spoke last week at the end of a Sadc PF regional seminar on children’s rights and climate change which took place at the School of Public Health of the University of the Western Cape.
The seminar, held under the auspices of the African Children’s Charter Project, ran under the theme, ‘Championing Collective Child-Responsive Climate Action.’
The four parliamentary researchers - from Madagascar, Malawi, Lesotho, and Mauritius - spoke about why parliaments and policymakers can no longer ignore the intersection between climate, children’s rights, and sexual and reproductive health.
“Climate change is not only an environmental crisis. It is a child rights crisis,” said Ida Raveloson Tchiourson from Madagascar.
She added: “We see this clearly in Madagascar, where cyclones, droughts, and forced displacements undermine children’s education, health, and protection, especially for girls.”
She noted that disasters often lead to early marriages, sexual exploitation, and disrupted access to SRHR services.
“In the chaos of climate emergencies, adolescent girls sometimes sleep next to unknown adult men in crowded shelters, with no privacy, no hygiene kits, and no protection. This must change,” she warned.
The researchers agreed that SRHR and HIV vulnerabilities are amplified by climate shocks. Gomezgani Ngwira Kateka of Malawi cited the devastation of Cyclone Freddy, which destroyed 79 health facilities and cut off access to family planning services.
“A 14-year-old girl told us she became pregnant because mobile clinics stopped coming. The floods had washed away the bridge to her village,” said Kateka, adding, “It’s a painful reminder that climate change derails our efforts to protect children.”
Mammehela Matamane from Lesotho observed that drought-induced food insecurity is fuelling early and forced marriages in the region, which directly compromises girls’ sexual and reproductive health.
“Climate stressors are not isolated; they worsen SRHR and HIV vulnerabilities, especially for children who are already marginalised,” she said.
The researchers called for parliaments to move beyond rhetoric. Poorneeka Ramjuttun Juglall from Mauritius urged Sadc legislatures to make budgets child-sensitive and climate-informed.
“The climate crisis is today’s injustice. Parliamentarians must integrate climate resilience into SRHR oversight and demand data that tells us how children living with HIV are impacted,” she said.
Raveloson added that national laws must reflect regional commitments.
“We need climate policies that explicitly integrate children’s rights, including SRHR, especially in humanitarian responses,” she said.
The researchers also pointed to existing tools and partnerships that can accelerate progress. These include: the Sadc Model Law on Eradicating Child Marriage and Protecting Children Already in Marriage; national working groups under the SRHR, HIV and Aids Governance Project; social accountability platforms bringing together MPs, civil society organisations (CSOs), youth, and researchers; gender- and child-sensitive budget analyses already in use.
“We don’t need to reinvent the wheel,” said Matamane, adding, “We need to connect the dots between climate, children’s rights, and SRHR using what already exists.”
Several concrete follow-up actions were proposed to ensure that the seminar leads to real reforms.
These include establishing a regional task force on climate and children’s rights, integrating seminar outcomes into the draft Sadc Protocol on Children, and convening annual reviews led by parliaments and civil society.
Raveloson called for a network of regional researchers to keep the momentum going, while Kateka proposed tracking how children’s rights are reflected in nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement.
Asked what they would tell Sadc Parliamentarians in just 60 seconds, all four researchers echoed the need for bold leadership.
“Children are already paying the price. The time for political courage and coordinated, humane action is now,” said Raveloson.
Juglall said, “Let us not legislate as if climate change is tomorrow’s problem. It is today’s crisis, and it is robbing children of their health, education, and dignity.”
Kateka weighed in, “We urge you: legislate differently, legislate boldly. Put children at the centre.”
