WORLD WATER DAY, UNICEF BLAMES SCARCITY OF WATER ON DROUGHT AND CONFLICTS IN NIGERIA AND OTHER COUNTRIES
Approximately one in four children worldwide will live in regions with extremely scarce water resources by 2040, UNICEF said in a report Wednesday. The Agency noted that drought and conflict are factors behind water scarcity in parts of Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen, the report says. Nearly 1.4 million children in those areas facing “imminent risk of death” from famine. In research released on World Water Day, the United Nations children’s agency warned that in just over two decades nearly 600 million children will be living in areas with severely limited safe water sources, as population growth and surging demand for water clash with the effects of climate change. Rising temperatures and droughts can leave children at risk for dehydration, according to UNICEF, while increased rain and flooding can destroy sanitation infrastructure and help spread water-borne diseases like cholera. More than 800 children under the age of five die every day from diarrhoea linked t...