United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says no fewer than 78 million Nigerian children are at the highest risk of water-related threats.
Dr. Jane Bevan, the Chief of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, UNICEF Nigeria, made this known on Monday in a press statement released ahead of the UN’s March 2023 Water Conference in New York.
The statement quoted Dr. Bevan saying one-third of children do not have access to at least basic water at home, and two-thirds do not have basic sanitation services.
“Hand hygiene is also limited, with three-quarters of children unable to wash their hands due to lack of water and soap at home.
“As a result, Nigeria is one of the 10 countries that carry the heaviest burden of child deaths from diseases caused by inadequate WASH, such as diarrhoeal diseases.
“Nigeria also ranks second out of 163 countries globally with the highest risk of exposure to climate and environmental threats.
“Groundwater levels are also dropping, requiring some communities to dig wells twice as deep as just a decade ago.
“At the same time, rainfall has become more erratic and intense, leading to floods that contaminate scarce water supplies.”
The UNICEF said investments from global climate financing would strengthen climate resilience in the WASH sector and communities.
This, it noted would increase effective and accountable systems, coordination, and capacities to provide water and sanitation services, and implement the UN-Water SDG six Global Acceleration Framework.
“If we continue at the current pace, it will take 16 years to achieve access to safe water for all in Nigeria. We cannot wait that long and the time to move quickly is now.
“Investing in climate-resilient water, sanitation, and hygiene services is not only a matter of protecting children’s health today but also ensuring a sustainable future for generations to come”.
According to a new UNICEF analysis, 78 million children in Nigeria were at the highest risk from a convergence of three water-related threats – inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene-related diseases; and climate hazards.
