More children in South Asia are struggling due to severe water scarcity made worse by the impacts of climate change than anywhere else worldwide, the United Nations said Monday. As of 2022, 739 million children were exposed to high or extremely high water scarcity, with 436m children —mostly in low- and middle-income countries — living in areas of “high or extremely high water vulnerability.”The term is defined as a combination of high or very high water scarcity and low or very low drinking water service levels. The most impacted regions are countries in the Middle East and North Africa and South Asia regions. “Safe water is a basic human right,” said Sanjay Wijesekera, Unicef chief for South Asia. Behind South Asia was Eastern and Southern Africa, where 130m children are at risk from severe water scarcity, the report added.

Source: The North Africa Journal November 13, 2023 12:45 UTC