The effects of climate change are no longer isolated emergencies but have become the new global norm. In 2020 alone, more than 30 million people globally were displaced by natural disasters. Climate-displaced people, especially the most vulnerable and marginalized groups, see their right to education compromised by direct and indirect barriers to education.

UNESCO has published a new and timely regional reportanalyzing the impacts of climate change and displacement on the right to education in Central America and the Caribbean region, as part of its initiative on The Impacts of Climate Change and Displacement on the Right to Education. The study is among several regional reports released this year providing guidance for policy-makers, and will contribute to a Global Report which will be released by the end of 2023.

Central America and the Caribbean region is prone to the effects of climate change and related-displacement due to its socioeconomic characteristics and geographic location. As part of UNESCO’s initiative, country case studies were carried out in the Bahamas, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, and Jamaica to examine not only specific vulnerabilities to climate change and related mobility, but also the impacts of climate change on the right to education in the region.  

Key findings of the report

• In the Caribbean countries, internal displacement following sudden-onset events and following slow-onset events are the most common displacement scenarios, driven mainly by drought and climate-induced loss of livelihoods. On the other hand, due to drought, international migration is the most common displacement scenario in Central American countries.

• Climate change and related displacement exacerbate existing educational inequalities and barriers to education and particularly affect already vulnerable populations (the financially disadvantaged, irregular migrants, girls and women, rural communities, indigenous communities, persons with disabilities…)

• One of the common barriers to education to all displacement scenarios in this region is a lack of financial resources following disasters and/or displacement due to climate-related events. Families often prioritize education only after achieving economic security following the loss of assets during disasters and displacement. Financial barriers to education are exacerbated by the supplemental costs of education in the region (cost of books, uniforms, transport, etc.).

• Administrative barriers, lack of documentation, residency requirements, and language barriers (particularly for the indigenous communities in Guatemala) impede full access to quality education for climate-displaced persons.

• Climate-displaced persons also experience specific trauma and discrimination (especially CDPs from Haiti, part of indigenous communities from Central America, women, and economic migrants), that teachers are not trained to respond to properly.

• The access to education in rural and remote areas, which was already difficult because of the lack of educational institutions and teachers, is endangered by climate-induced damage or destruction of schools and new influx of climate displaced persons.

• None of the countries studied has an overarching national strategy that expressly enshrines the right to education for persons displaced by climate change or climate-related triggers. However, Cuba is the only country studied that does grant refugee status to those displaced by disasters resulting from natural hazards in national legislation- eliminating the residency-related barriers to education for those displaced by climate change.

• There is also a lack of enough public funding in the educational sector in the studied countries, especially in the post-disaster period.

Intersectoral action must be taken to address both the common barriers to education as well as the national specificities amidst climate change and climate displacement. UNESCO will provide global policy guidance to policy-makers around the world. It will publish a global report on the occasion of COP 28 which will be based on the findings and recommendations of the regional studies.

The findings and recommendations of this regional report will be presented at an event on 22 June 2023. The publication of this report was made possible by contributions from the UNESCO field offices in Guatemala, Havana and Kingston.