More than 420,000 children are currently suffering from the record drought that affects the Amazon region, is what a survey carried out by the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), released this Thursday (07), showed.
According to the United Nations (UN) agency, The minors recorded reside in three countries in the Amazon region: Brazil, Colombia and Peru . The majority belong to riverside communities affected by the extreme drought conditions that have caused low levels in rivers in the basin.
Due to the drought in the rivers, services such as health, education and child protection, as well as agricultural and fishing livelihoods, are also affected, damaging the routine and essential activities of these riverside families.
It is known that members of these communities depend on rivers to transport and access food, water, fuel and basic medical supplies, as well as a way to get to school.
“For centuries, the Amazon was home to precious natural resources. We are witnessing the devastation of an essential ecosystem that families depend on, leaving many children without access to adequate food, water, healthcare and schools,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.
According to the director, the effects of extreme crises must be mitigated as soon as possible to protect children and future generations.
In total, nine South American countries occupy the Amazon territory. In the Amazon region of Brazil alone, more than 1,700 schools and more than 760 health centers were closed or inaccessible due to low water levels in the rivers.
In at least 14 communities in the south of the Brazilian Amazon, families claim that children are not attending school due to the suspension of classes due to the drought according to Unicef’s latest field assessment.
In Colombia, the difficulty in food supply, as well as very little access to drinking water, has caused an increase in respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, malaria and acute malnutrition among children under five years of age, thus accentuating the dangers of drought. More than 130 schools in the country also had classes suspended.
Already the Loreto region in northeastern Peru is the area most affected by the ongoing drought with more than 50 health centers inaccessible due to drought.
Food insecurity, accentuated by drought, is also another factor in countries in the Amazon region that has directly harmed children, increasing the risk of malnutrition, stunted growth, weight loss and even death in young Latin Americans.
Furthermore, Pregnant women facing drought conditions in the regions are also at risk of having children with lower birth weights as the research also pointed out.
It is estimated that at least US$10 million will be needed over the next few months to meet the most urgent needs of communities affected by the drought in Brazil, Colombia and Peru, according to Unicef.
This content was originally published in More than 420 thousand children suffer from record drought in the Amazon region, says Unicef on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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