Without immediate assistance and support, children in the vast Sahel area and the Horn of Africa “may die in terrible numbers,” UNICEF said on Tuesday.
The number of individuals in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia without consistent access to potable water has increased from 9.5 million to 16.2 million during the previous five months.
Children in the Sahel region struggle with access to water. The development of severe hunger and a rise in the danger of life-threatening water-borne illnesses are both results of this disaster.
Children face exponentially greater dangers when water is scarce or unsafe, according to UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “Millions of youngsters in the Horn of Africa and the Sahel are only one sickness away from catastrophe.”
As World Water Week gets underway in Stockholm, Sweden, drought, war, and instability are driving the problem of water security in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria.
The WHO estimates that 40 million children are very or extremely vulnerable to water shortages.
The Sahel region has the highest rate of child mortality due to contaminated water and poor sanitation worldwide. UNICEF predicted that this would simply make the issue much worse.
Additionally, in Kenya, over 90% of open water sources, such as ponds and open wells, are either dry or depleted, creating a significant danger of disease epidemics.
Over the last 20 years, the Sahel has seen a greater than 40% decrease in water supply. Climate change and other complicated causes like destructive conflict patterns are primarily to blame for this sharp decline in water supplies.
The impact of instability was also a factor in the Central Sahel’s biggest cholera epidemic in six years, which saw 5,610 cases and 170 fatalities.
In practically every region impacted by the drought in Somalia, outbreaks of acute watery diarrhoea and cholera have been documented.
8,200 instances were recorded between January and June 2022, more than twice as many as during the same time period in the previous year.
Children are 11 times more likely to die from water-borne infections than those who are well-nourished in an area where there are already 2.8 million malnourished children, according to UNICEF.
Children under the age of five make up over two thirds of these casualties. In Ethiopia’s most drought-affected areas, Afar, Somalia, SNNP, and Oromia, UNICEF and partners treated more than 1.2 million cases of diarrhoea in children under the age of five between June 2021 and June 2022.
Assistance with emergencies and rescue
UNICEF is fighting this catastrophe by giving vital help and long-lasting services to children and their families in the Sahel and Horn of Africa who are in desperate need.
Plans include for expanding preventative services, identifying and treating malnourished children, drilling dependable supplies of underground water, increasing the usage of solar systems, and boosting access to climate-resilient water, sanitation, and hygiene services.
Currently, just 3% of UNICEF’s appeal to strengthen families’ long-term resilience in the Horn of Africa area and halt droughts that have claimed lives for years gets financed.
They contributed very little to the part on water supply, sanitation, and climate resilience. Only 22% of the funds requested to address the needs of vulnerable families and children in the Central Sahel area have been allocated.
At the beginning of World Water Week this year, Ms. Russell made the following plea for more funding: Families in drought-stricken countries are being forced to make hard decisions.
Governments, donors, and the international community must boost financing to address the most pressing needs of children and provide long-term adaptable assistance to break the crisis cycle if they are to resolve this disaster.