ISLAMABAD, Mar 21 (APP): The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) revealed that more than 1.42 billion people including 450 million children across the world live in areas of high, or extremely high, water vulnerability.
This means that 1 in 5 children worldwide do not have enough water to meet their everyday needs’ said UNICEF analysis report .
The new released analysis – part of Water Security for All initiative – identifies areas where physical water scarcity risks overlap with poor water service levels.
“The world’s water crisis is not simply coming, it is here, and climate change will only make it worse. Children are the biggest victims,” UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said.
According to UNICEF, when wells dry-up, children are the ones missing school to fetch water while when droughts diminish food supplies, children suffer from malnutrition and stunting.
Similarly, when floods hit, children fall ill from waterborne illnesses and when water resources decline, children cannot wash their hands to fight off diseases.
The analysis showed that children in more than 80 countries live in areas with high or extremely high water vulnerability.
Eastern and Southern Africa has the highest proportion of children living in such areas, with more than half of children – 58 per cent – facing difficulty accessing sufficient water every day.
It is followed by West and Central Africa (31 per cent), South Asia (25 per cent), and the Middle East (23 per cent).
South Asia is home to the largest number of children living in areas of high or extremely high water vulnerability – more than 155 million children.
Children in 37 ‘hotspot’ countries face especially dire circumstances in terms of absolute numbers, the proportions of children affected, and where global resources support and urgent action must be mobilized.
This list includes Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Haiti, Kenya, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Sudan, Tanzania and Yemen.
Demand for water continues to increase dramatically while resources are dwindling.
In addition to rapid population growth, urbanization, water misuse and mismanagement, climate change and extreme weather events also reduce available quantities of safe water, exacerbating water stress.
According to UNICEF previous report, almost 1 in 4 children globally will live in areas of extremely high water stress by 2040.
