By Bisola Adeyemo
UN Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) on Tuesday revealed that about 48 million people, especially children need safe water and sanitation services in the nine countries.
UNICEF revealed this in the report which focuses on nine countries; the Central African Republic, Iraq, Libya, Palestine, Pakistan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, and Yemen where violence and conflict are prevalent, and the impact the attacks have on children.
“The protection of secure, reliable water and sanitation services is shown to be a critical factor in ensuring the survival of millions of children.
“The study notes that, in fragile countries, children under the age of five are 20 times more likely to die due to diarrhoeal diseases than to violence.’’
The report quoted Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF Director of Emergency Programmes, as saying, “Access to water is a means of survival that must never be used as a tactic of war.
“Attacks on water and sanitation infrastructure are attacks on children.”
“When the flow of water stops, diseases like cholera and diarrhoea can spread like wildfire, often with fatal consequences.
“Hospitals cannot function, and rates of malnutrition and wasting increase. Children and families are often forced out in search of water, exposing them, particularly girls, to an increased risk of harm and violence.”
The report, therefore, called for the UN Member States, including Security Council members, to take firmer action to hold the perpetrators of these attacks to account.
It called for donors to invest in water and sanitation in conflict situations and for the public to add their voice to protect infrastructure, and water workers.