UNICEF has highlighted the number of drought-affected people in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia which has risen from 9.5 million in February to 16.2 million in July, putting children and their families at increased risk of contract diseases such as cholera and diarrhoea. More than 2.8 million children in Kenya and Ethiopia already suffer from severe acute malnutrition.

Unless they receive emergency aid, catastrophic numbers of children in the Horn of Africa and the Sahel are at risk of dying due to the combined effects of severe malnutrition and the risk of water-borne diseases, warns UNICEF during World Water Week. The number of children dying due to unsafe water and lack of sanitation is already higher in the Sahel than in any other region of the world, according to the latest data published by WHO.

“History shows us that when levels of severe acute malnutrition in children combine with deadly outbreaks of diseases like cholera or diarrhoea, child mortality rises dramatically and tragically. When water is unavailable or unsafe, the risk to children increases exponentially,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “Across the Horn of Africa and the Sahel, millions of children are on the brink of disaster. »

UNICEF has highlighted the number of drought-affected people in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia which has risen from 9.5 million in February to 16.2 million in July, putting children and their families at increased risk of contract diseases such as cholera and diarrhoea. More than 2.8 million children in Kenya and Ethiopia already suffer from severe acute malnutrition.

Au Burkina Faso, au Niger, au Nigeria, au Mali et au Tchad, la sécheresse, les conflits et l’instabilité sont à l’origine de l’insécurité hydrique qui sévit dans la région.