Water Security for All

Today, there are 1.42 billion people – including 450
million children – who live in areas of high or
extremely-high water vulnerability.
For too many people, drinking water services are not
safe and affordable. The situation is becoming more
challenging due to climate change, which can cause
droughts, floods and rising sea levels. These
problems can be addressed with the right
infrastructure, but for too many people water services
and communities are insufficiently resilient to climate
change.
Similarly, for many communities, there is a lack of
forward planning to prevent water scarcity crises
before they strike.
Water is also linked with another type of crisis – violent
conflict. In fact, water insecurity creates a vicious circle
with other drivers of conflict. Water can be the starting
cause of conflicts, particularly where it is scarce. And once
conflicts have begun, they can shift patterns of water use,
as populations are displaced and move to new locations.

With private and public sector partners, UNICEF is responding
to each of the critical water security challenges we face today.
UNICEF is facilitating safe and affordable drinking water
services. To achieve the greatest impact, we work with
governments, providing them with expertise on developing
policies and budgets for water, as well as technical assistance
on the water systems themselves. From 2018-2021 UNICEF
reached 69.9 million people with safe water services.
We are also building the climate resilience of water services
and communities. UNICEF ensures that water services can
withstand climate-related events, such as droughts and floods,
and are operated with low carbon energy sources, such as
solar power. From 2019-2021, UNICEF directly supported the
construction of 4,257 solar-powered water systems.
Preventing water scarcity crises through early action is another
vital area of work. We support water resource assessments,
sustainable groundwater abstraction, efficient water use, and
drought warning systems. These early actions help prevent
situations in which water supplies are fully depleted.
Finally, UNICEF believes in the power of facilitating water
cooperation for peace and stability. We work to ensure water
supplies are equitably distributed and do not contribute to
tensions between communities. We also work in conflict
zones, to prevent attacks on water infrastructure and
personnel, and to ensure all people affected by crisis can
access water.