• Data from the World Health Organization shows that 40 million children are facing high to extremely high levels of water vulnerability.
• Unicef says the drought has also led to the proliferation of severe malnutrition.
Image: JACK OWUOR
More than 90 per cent of open water sources in drought-hit areas of the country are either depleted or dried up, posing a serious risk of waterborne disease outbreak, Unicef has warned.
These water sources include open wells and ponds.
Unicef says the drought has also led to the proliferation of severe malnutrition.
It warns that without urgent intervention and support, children in the Horn of Africa and the vast Sahel region “could die in devastating numbers”.
Unicef says in the last five months, the number of people in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia without reliable access to safe water has risen from 9.5 million to 16.2 million.
“When water either isn’t available or is unsafe, the risks to children multiply exponentially,” Unicef executive director Catherine Russell says.
“Across the Horn of Africa and the Sahel, millions of children are just one disease away from catastrophe.”
Data from the World Health Organization shows that 40 million children are facing high to extremely high levels of water vulnerability.
Many children die as a result of unsafe water and sanitation in the Sahel than in any other part of the world.
This will only be heightened by the nascent crisis, even as the world celebrates World Water Week.
Unicef says most people in the Horn of Africa rely on water delivered by vendors on trucks or donkey carts.
In areas worst hit by drought, water is no longer affordable for many families.
Unicef says between June 2021 and June 2022, together with partners, it treated more than 1.2 million cases of diarrhoea in children under the age of five in the worst drought-hit regions of Ethiopia’s Afar, Somalia, SNNP and Oromia.
To combat this crisis, Unicef is providing life-saving aid and resilient services to children and their families in dire need across the Horn of Africa and the Sahel.
They include improving access to climate-resilient water, sanitation and hygiene services, drilling for reliable sources of groundwater, developing the use of solar systems, identifying and treating children with malnutrition, and scaling up prevention services.
The latest bulletin from the National Drought Management Authority shows at least 4.35 million people will be in need of food aid by October if the drought crisis continues unabated.
On August 8, Special Programmes CS Margaret Kobia said the number of Kenyans in need of food aid is likely to rise from 4.1 million people to 4.35 million by the end of the year.
“The weather outlook indicates that there will be generally depressed rainfall across all the arid and semi-arid counties during the October-December 2022 rainfall season," the CS said.
"This is due to La Niña, hence the prospect of a fifth failed rain season. Consequently, the number of people in need of relief assistance could, therefore, rise to 4.35 million.”
She spoke during a consultative meeting with government officials and development partners on the current drought situation.
NDMA said the situation was worsening faster than was earlier projected.
In their estimation, the drought situation has deteriorated in 20 of the 23 ASAL counties.
These are Isiolo, Mandera, Samburu, Turkana, Wajir, Laikipia, Marsabit, Embu, Garissa, Kajiado, Kitui, Makueni, Meru, Narok, Nyeri, Tharaka Nithi, Taita Taveta, Tana River, Kwale and Kilifi counties.
The authority attributed the situation to the poor performance of the 2021 long rains, coupled with the previous three failed consecutive seasons.
The August National Drought Early Warning Bulletin said the number of people in need of assistance is projected to increase to 4.35 million by October.
Edited by A.N