More children suffer from water scarcity in South Asia than in any other region of the world. According to the UN Children’s Fund UNICEF, 347 million people under the age of 18 are “exposed to high or extremely high water scarcity”.
South Asia is where the most children in the world suffer from water scarcity. In total there are 347 million, as an analysis by the UN children’s fund UNICEF shows. More than a quarter of all children lived in the world’s most populous region. At the same time, there is only four percent of the world’s water there.
“Safe water is a basic human right, but millions of children in South Asia do not have enough to drink in a region plagued by floods, drought and other extreme weather events increasingly driven by climate change,” said UNICEF, the region’s regional authority -Chief, Sanjay Wijesekera.
Unsafe foods, Malnutrition and diseases
Ahead of the UN climate conference in Dubai at the end of the month, UNICEF is calling on the international community to take steps to ensure a livable planet for children. Water scarcity affects the well-being and growth of children, creates food insecurity, malnutrition and disease.
Water shortages also affect agriculture, industry and economic growth. And when farming families are doing poorly, children are more likely to be forced into child labor, it was said.
When it comes to drinking water supplies, however, UNICEF expects an improvement in South Asia: Last year, 45 million children in the region had no access to basic drinking water supplies. UNICEF estimates that this number could be halved by 2030 given the rapid expansion of care.