UNICEF provides water kits, hygiene kits, temporary sanitation facilities for Marawi

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Tuesday said they are working hand-in-hand with other partners to address the concern on the lack of access to basic drinking water of chidlren affected by the Marawi siege.

“In response to the Marawi conflict, UNICEF has been working with the government and NGO [non-governmental organization] partners with support from the Government of Japan and the United Nations’ Central Emergency Response Fund to address critical needs of displaced children and their families, providing water kits, hygiene kits and temporary sanitation facilities," UNICEF Philippines Representative Lotta Sylwander said in a statement.

Sylwander also added, "Ensuring that children can drink clean water and practice good hygiene during emergencies is essential to protecting their health and nutritional status.”

UNICEF also emphasized that access to safe water is a right, not a privilege.

“Children’s access to safe water and sanitation, especially in conflicts and emergencies, is a right, not a privilege,” said Sanjay Wijesekera, UNICEF’s global chief of water, sanitation and hygiene.

”In countries beset by violence, displacement, conflict and instability, children’s most basic means of survival – water – must be a priority," the chief added.

More than 180 million people around the world affected by conflict, violence, and instability do not have access to basic drinking water, UNICEF warned on Tuesday, as World Water Week approaches.

According to a recent UNICEF and World Health Organization (WHO) analysis, of the estimated 484 million people living in fragile situations in 2015, a total of 183 million lacked access to basic drinking water.

In the Philippines, Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has the lowest coverage of basic drinking water services and sanitation facilities, UNICEF said.

According to UNICEF, "Only 62% of households in ARMM have access to basic water services and only 22% of households have their own hygienic toilets (compared to, respectively, 91% and 75% at the national level)."

UNICEF and its partners have taken the initiative to address the issue after the recent fighting in Marawi has "further exacerbated this situation," noting that malnutrition and fatal diseases may follow, citing as examples countries like Yemen, South Sudan, and Nigeria.

“In far too many cases, water and sanitation systems have been attacked, damaged or left in disrepair to the point of collapse. When children have no safe water to drink, and when health systems are left in ruins, malnutrition and potentially fatal diseases like cholera will inevitably follow,” said Wijesekera.

UNICEF is an agency of the United Nations that promotes the rights and well-being of children. —Akari Nakano/KG, GMA News