Rio de Janeiro, Nov. 8, (dpa/GNA) – Water scarcity and drought is affecting more than 420,000 children across three countries in the Amazon region, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Thursday.
The drought – which has been ongoing since last year and has left Amazon basin rivers at an all-time low – is severely impacting riverside and indigenous children and communities in Brazil, Colombia and Peru, the agency said.
Executive director Catherine Russell said the “devastation of an essential ecosystem” had left many children without access to adequate food, water, health care and education.
“We must mitigate the effects of extreme climate crises to protect children today and future generations. The health of the Amazon affects the health of us all.”
UNICEF said in Brazil’s Amazon region, more than 1,700 schools and more than 760 health centres have been closed or are inaccessible due to low water levels.
In the Colombian Amazon, river water levels have dropped by up to 80%, restricting access to drinking water and food supplies, and closing more than 130 schools.
Across Brazil, more than a third of the national territory is currently affected by extreme drought, the National Centre for the Monitoring of Natural Disasters (CEMADEN) has reported.
Experts link these conditions to the El Niño weather phenomenon and climate change.
GNA