5 days Ago By N/A (MB Lifestyle)
What children in the Philippines may be facing in 2050 According to UNICEF’s flagship report, State of the World’s Children 2024 , more children, globally, will be living in low-income countries, at high risk of climate and environmental hazards and disasters, amid rapid digitization and technologization by 2050. These three key global shifts—demographic shift, climate change, and frontier technology—can either fill their future with promise or put them in peril. And that all depends on our collective actions today.
Demographic dividend By 2030 to 2050, PH can become the 14th biggest economy in the world. (Recto, 2024) Climate-induced disasters and shocks 74 percent of PH population is vulnerable to climate-induced disasters and hazards and over 97% of children experience multiple environmental shocks More flooding By 2050, temperatures are expected to rise by 1.8°C to 2.
2°C, potentially submerging some lands. Worsening climate crisis By 2050: 8x more heatwaves 3.2x more floods 1.
3x more droughts 1.2x more typhoons Displacement 9.7 million children in PH were displaced by environmental hazards (2016 to 2021)—the highest in the world.
Rapid urbanization By 2050, 2/3 of the PH population will live in urban areas. Disease, hazards, and violence Disadvantaged children in cities are more exposed to communicable diseases, environmental hazards, and violence Digital divide 65 percent of Filipinos are still not connected to the internet (DICT, 2023) Internet speed is slow, cost is expensive, and some towns won’t have electricity Rapid digitalization and technologization Online exploitation and bullying 20 percent of children,12-17 years old, face online sexual exploitation, with many not reporting abuse. ( Disrupting Harm Study , 2022) DEMOGRAPHIC SHIFT Only when adequate investment is made on today’s youth can we harness the demographic dividend that will make the Philippines into an economic behemoth by 2050.
For this, adequate human capital investment in today’s children, in health, education, and skills building, is vital so they—our future workforce—can be productive members of society. What we need to do today 1. Invest in health, education and skills.
2. Develop more child-friendly cities. 3.
E nsure rights and equity across generations. CLIMATE CHANGE PH is already the country most at-risk in the world for extreme natural events (World Risk Report, 2024) and Filipinos have the highest level of eco-anxiety, worldwide (Lancet Study, 2021). With the effects of climate change expected to worsen in the coming decades, children in the Philippines will continue to bear the brunt of nature’s wrath.
What we need to do today 1. Develop and expand climate-resilient infrastructure, especially for schools and emergency shelters. 2.
Invest in green energy to speed the phasing out of fossil fuels. 3. Ensure that children’s unique vulnerabilities and needs are reflected in climate financing and planning.
FRONTIER TECHNOLOGY Artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies will continue to change the way children learn, interact, and perceive the world. Children of the world need to be prepared for digitalization, green technology, AI, and neurotechnology. What we need to do today 1.
Bridge the digital divide and build children’s digital skills. 2. Invest in technology designed to benefit children, safeguard them, and protect their best interests, reflecting on the needs and views of children themselves.
3. Laws must be adopted or updated to protect children against the risks of emerging technologies..
