Nigeria, water: the lives of 78 million children are in danger due to a triple threat linked to water crises.

ROME – “As world leaders and industry organizations gather for the UN Water Conference 2023, held in New York today March 22 through the day after tomorrow, March 24, is being hailed as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to accelerate progress toward universal access to safe water and sanitation by 2030. Water is the foundation of sustainable development . In that context, urgent action will also be required to address Nigeria’s water crisis. In fact, according to a new analysis by UNICEF, 78 million children in the most populous African country of Nigeria (population 150 million) are most exposed to the risk of a convergence of three water-related threats: water, inadequate sanitation, related diseases and climate risks.

A third of children without basic hygiene. In Nigeria, one-third of children lack access to even basic water at home and two-thirds lack basic sanitation. Hand hygiene is also limited: three quarters of children cannot wash their hands due to lack of soap and water at home. As a result, Nigeria is one of the 10 countries with the highest burden of child deaths from diseases due to inadequate water and sanitation services, such as diarrheal disease. Nigeria also ranks second out of 163 countries globally with the highest risk of exposure to climate and environmental threats. Groundwater levels are also dropping, with some communities having to dig wells twice as deep as they were a decade ago. At the same time, rainfall has become more erratic and intense, leading to floods that contaminate scarce water supplies.

Urgently increase investments. I believe there is a need to rapidly scale up investment in the sector, including through global climate finance, strengthen climate resilience in the water and sanitation sector and in communities, improve the effectiveness and transparency of systems, coordination and capabilities to deliver water and sanitation and implement the UN-Water SDG6 Global Accelerator Framework. If we continue at the current pace, it will take 16 years to achieve access to safe water for all in Nigeria. We can’t wait that long and the time to move quickly is now. Investing in climate-resilient water and sanitation services is not only about protecting children’s health today, but also about ensuring a sustainable future for generations to come.”