. Says 117 Million Lack Access To Safe Water
Chioma Umeha
UNICEF on Monday appealed for $3.6 billion to
provide lifesaving humanitarian assistance to 48 million children living
through conflict, natural disasters and other emergencies in 51 countries in
2018.
A statement signed by Eva Hinds, Communication
Specialist, made available to INDEPENDENT on Monday said, “Around the world,
violent conflict is driving humanitarian needs to critical levels, with
children especially vulnerable.”
Hinds said that conflicts that have endured for
years – such as those in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Nigeria, South
Sudan, Syria and Yemen, among other countries – continued to deepen in
complexity, bringing new waves of violence, displacement and disruption to
children’s lives.
“Children cannot wait for wars to be brought to an
end, with crises threatening the immediate survival and long term future of
children and young people on a catastrophic scale,” said Manuel Fontaine,
UNICEF Director of Emergency Programmes.
“Children are the most vulnerable when conflict or
disaster causes the collapse of essential services such as healthcare, water
and sanitation. Unless the international community takes urgent action to
protect and provide life-saving assistance to these children, they face an
increasingly bleak future,” the director said.
The statement said parties to conflicts were
showing a blatant disregard for the lives of children.
“Children are not only coming under direct attack,
but also are being denied basic services as schools, hospitals and civilian
infrastructure are damaged or destroyed.
“Approximately 84 per cent ($3.015 billion) of the
2018 funding appeal is for work in countries affected by humanitarian crises
borne of violence and conflict.
“The world is becoming a more dangerous place for
many children, with almost one in four children now living in a country
affected by conflict or disaster. For too many of these children, daily life is
a nightmare,” Fontaine said.
The spread of water-borne diseases is one of the
greatest threats to children’s lives in crises, the statement added.
“117 million people living through emergencies
lack access to safe water and in many countries affected by conflict, more
children die from diseases caused by unclean water and poor sanitation than
from direct violence,” said Fontaine.
“Without access to safe water and sanitation,
children fall ill, and are often unable to be treated as hospitals and health
centres either do not function or are overcrowded.
“The threat is even greater as millions of
children face life-threatening levels of malnutrition, making them more
susceptible to water-borne diseases like cholera, creating a vicious cycle of
under-nutrition and disease.”
As the leading humanitarian agency on water,
sanitation and hygiene in emergencies, UNICEF provides over half of the
emergency water, sanitation and hygiene services in humanitarian crises around
the world.
Working with partners and with the support of
donors, in 2018 UNICEF aims to provide 35.7 million people with access to safe
water and reach 8.9 million children with formal or non-formal basic education.
The UN agency for children also plans to immunise
10 million children against measles; provide psychosocial support to over 3.9
million children and treat 4.2 million children with severe acute malnutrition.
