New UNICEF report highlights attacks on water and sanitation facilities

UNICEF has warned that attacks on water and sanitation facilities and workers in conflicts around the world are putting the lives of millions of children at risk and deny children and families access to vital water and sanitation services.

In the nine countries highlighted in their new report: Water Under Fire Volume 3: Attacks on water and sanitation services in armed conflict and the impacts on children, almost 48 million people, including children, are estimated to need safe water and sanitation services.

“Access to water is a means of survival that must never be used as a tactic of war,” says UNICEF Director of Emergency Programmes Manuel Fontaine. “Attacks on water and sanitation infrastructure are attacks on children. When the flow of water stops, diseases like cholera and diarrhoea can spread like wildfire, often with fatal consequences.”

• Read the full report here.