Safe water, sanitation unavailable to many children

Some 5.4 million children in Uganda, especially those who have been displaced by conflict in the north, do not have access to safe drinking water, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Wednesday. In its statement to mark World Water Day, UNICEF said these children rely mainly on unprotected surface water from rivers, ponds or dams. More than two million children also lack access to any kind of toilet facility. The lack of safe water and proper sanitation and generally poor hygiene practices were among the major causes of childhood diseases in Uganda. "A lot of effort has gone into drilling boreholes and building motorised water systems to ensure that those living in IDP [internally displaced persons] camps get clean water," said Martin Mogwanja, UNICEF representative in Uganda. "Even then, half of the 1.7 million IDPs use less than 5 litres of safe water per person per day, far below the acceptable, international standard of 15 litres per person per day in an emergency situation," he said. The IDPs fled their homes to live in camps as a result of a brutal 20-year war between the Ugandan army and the rebel Lord's Resistance Army. A recent survey by the UN found that up to 1,000 people, mainly children, were dying every week in the camps mainly from disease. UNICEF called for focus on improving access to water and sanitation in such disadvantaged communities, adding that increased access to such facilities would reduce the burden on girls and women at the household level. According to the Ugandan statistics bureau, the national average for access to safe water in the country is 68 percent, higher than the 62 percent envisioned in the UN Millennium Development Goals. However, there was a need for more equitable distribution, it noted. "Every child has a right to health, education, equality and protection. The provision of clean water is a key part of fulfilling this right," Mogwanja said. World Water Day, which falls on 22 March, is being commemorated in Uganda following a week during which UNICEF and other development partners supported a government-led campaign to promote proper sanitation and hygiene practices to control the spread of diseases within communities. Internationally, the day marks the close of a weeklong Children’s World Water Forum in Mexico City, during which more than 100 children identified examples of local action by children on water issues.