People In Conflict-Ridden Nations Lack Access To Drinking Water, Says UNICEF - The India Saga

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People In Conflict-Ridden Nations Lack Access To Drinking Water, Says UNICEF

More than 180 million people do not have access to basic drinking water in countries affected by conflict, violence and…

People In Conflict-Ridden Nations Lack Access To Drinking Water, Says UNICEF

More than 180 million people do not have access to basic drinking water in countries affected by conflict, violence and instability around the world, UNICEF.

ÂChildrenÂs access to safe water and sanitation, especially in conflicts and emergencies, is a right, not a privilege said Sanjay Wijesekera, UNICEFÂs global chief of water, sanitation and hygiene. ÂIn countries beset by violence, displacement, conflict and instability, childrenÂs most basic means of survival  water  must be a priority.Â

People living in fragile situations are four times more likely to lack basic drinking water than populations in non-fragile situations, according to a recent UNICEF and World Health Organisation analysis. Of the estimated 484 million people living in fragile situations in 2015, 183 million lacked basic drinking water services.

In Yemen, a country reeling from the impact of over two years of conflict, water supply networks that serve the countryÂs largest cities are at imminent risk of collapse due to war-inflicted damage and disrepair. Around 15 million people in the country have been cut off from regular access to water and sanitation.

In Syria, where the conflict is well into its seventh year, around 15 million people are in need of safe water, including an estimated 6.4 million children. Water has frequently been used as a weapon of war: In 2016 alone, there were at least 30 deliberate water cuts  including in Aleppo, Damascus, Hama, Raqqa and Dara, with pumps destroyed and water sources contaminated.

In conflict-affected areas in northeast Nigeria, 75 per cent of water and sanitation infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, leaving 3.6 million people without even basic water services.

In South Sudan, where fighting has raged for over three years, almost half the water points across the country have been damaged or completely destroyed.

ÂIn far too many cases, water and sanitation systems have been attacked, damaged or left in disrepair to the point of collapse. When children have no safe water to drink, and when health systems are left in ruins, malnutrition and potentially fatal diseases like cholera will inevitably follow, said Wijesekera.

In Yemen, for example, children make up more than 53 per cent of the over half a million cases of suspected cholera and acute watery diarrhoea reported so far.  Somalia is suffering from the largest outbreak of cholera in the last five years, with nearly 77,000 cases of suspected cholera/acute watery diarrhoea. And in South Sudan, the cholera outbreak is the most severe the country has ever experienced, with more than 19,000 cases since June 2016. 

In famine-threatened north-east Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen, nearly 30 million people, including 14.6 million children, are in urgent need of safe water. More than 5 million children are estimated to be malnourished this year, with 1.4 million severely so.

In the Indian context, preserving every drop of groundwater is critical to IndiaÂs water security.

The fresh water demands of a rapidly growing population have resulted in the decline of per capita availability of fresh water from 3,000 cubic metres to 1,123 cubic meters over the past 50 years. This is well below the global average of 6000 cubic metres.

Apart from access to safe drinking water for women and children at the household level, performance of services and institutions such as schools, health centers and anganwadi centers are also impacted. For example, the 2015-16 drought led to a severe drinking water crisis in most villages across 10 states in India, affecting the health and wellbeing of nearly 40 million children. An assessment conducted by UNICEF in nine drought affected states found that among villages that had almost become Open Defecation Free (ODF), about 60 to 90 per cent of the households had to resort back to Open Defecation due to lack of water.

Both floods and droughts result in disruptions in access to safe drinking water, adequate hygiene and sanitation. This further increases the risk of disease outbreaks, hence putting vulnerable children and women at risk. UNICEF is working with the Government to make communities more climate resilient and mitigate the impact of climate change.

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