UNICEF warns of tripling of attacks on water systems since 2021
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Africanews
Attacks on water and sanitation systems in conflicts tripled between 2021 and 2025, depriving children of drinking water and exposing them to disease, according to a new UNICEF report. The UN agency calls for these infrastructures to be treated as vital civilian assets and for their operators to be protected, Africa News reports.
Attacks that damage or destroy water and sanitation systems in conflict zones tripled between 2021 and 2025, according to a new report by UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund. The rise deprives children of drinking water and exposes them to diseases linked to poor sanitation.
The report also documents children killed or injured in Gaza while queuing for water. Longer and more dangerous journeys to fetch supplies increase their risk of sexual violence and keep them away from school.
UNICEF calls on parties to conflicts, governments and humanitarian actors to treat these systems as vital civilian infrastructure. The UN agency asks for humanitarian access to be guaranteed so as to maintain water and energy supplies, for the people who operate and maintain the networks to be protected, and for all attacks to be systematically documented.
