UNICEF

Since the start of the partnership in 2013, Just Play – the Oceania Football Confederation’s sport for development programme – has worked alongside UNICEF on several projects, to reach thousands of children through the powerful medium of sport.

The organisation issued the warning to mark Universal Children's Day om Friday.

It says climate change is exacerbating and speeding up already existing challenges in low-lying countries such as Kiribati, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands.

UNICEF says this threatens to undo development gains made over decades.

The El Nino has caused severe drought through much of the region including Vanuatu which is still recovering from Cyclone Pam.

UNICEF Pacific Representative Karen Allen says affected children are showing signs of malnutrition and diarrhoea which could lead to greater developmental issues in the future.

Dr Allen says although governments have said there is no need for any mass appeal, there is a pressing need to look at the potential costs of the system.

According to a new United Nations report: “Global malaria control is one of the great public health success stories of the past 15 years,” said Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the UN World Health Organization (WHO). “It’s a sign that our strategies are on target, and that we can beat this ancient killer, which still claims hundreds of thousands of lives, mostly children, each year.”

At present, there are 10 young offenders being held in adult prisons in Kiribati. These children and adolescents, and others before them, had to navigate the adult justice system, being held alongside much older offenders and tried as adults.