BY AFOLABI GAMBARI

The United Nations Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) now simply known as United Nations Children’s Fund declared recently that children living in protracted conflicts are 20 times more likely to die from water-related diseases than from violence. This brings about a worrisome dimension to the ills that afflict children around the world, particularly in the developing countries. According to UNICEF, children under the age of 15 living in countries affected by protracted conflict are, on average, far more likely to die from diarrheal related diseases caused by lack of safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene. For a world body already battling with malnourished and out-of-school children whose number in Nigeria, for instance, has hit the 10 million mark, it can only be herculean to add victims of wars and insurgency. “The odds are already stacked against children living through prolonged conflicts – with many unable to reach source of safe water.” A worried UNICEF Executive Director, Henrietta Fore, said last week in reference to a recent study. The seemingly endless insurgency in north-eastern Nigeria has already inflicted a huge toll on the well-being of children in the region over the last decade. There is still uncertainty with regard to when the insurgency would end. “Conflict in north-eastern Nigeria has created huge challenges for people living in the area, where violence has inevitably led to diseases such as cholera,” UNICEF Nigeria Representative, Mohammed Fall, has also said. Fall painted a near-gory picture of the situation, for which the Nigerian government has apparently become helpless. “More than 3.6 million people are in need of water, sanitation and hygiene services, out of which 1.1 million are internally displaced, having fled their homes due to violence and conflict. As many as 800,000 of them are out of reach and in remote areas still afflicted by the conflict, even as 79 percent of these are children and women,” the UNICEF chief stated. The study further revealed that 5,365 people were affected by cholera in the north-east, with 61 dying in 2017, while 12,643 people were affected and 175 died of cholera in 2018. Fall however said UNICEF is working to improve on its life saving responses, especially at IDP camps where it hopes to ensure quality and sustainability of services and facilities, minimize the risk of diseases and provide preventive measures against cholera and other water-borne diseases. Without regular availability of safe water, sanitation and hygiene services, children are at risk of malnutrition and preventable diseases including diarrhea, typhoid, cholera and polio, with the girls more particularly affected as they are vulnerable to sexual violence. The girls deal with affronts to their dignity as they bathe and manage menstrual hygiene and often times miss classes during menstruation if their schools have no suitable water and sanitation facilities. The foregoing threats are exacerbated during conflict when deliberate and indiscriminate attacks destroy infrastructure, injure personnel and cut off the power that keeps water, sanitation and hygiene systems running. The conflict also limits access to essential repair equipment and consumables such as fuel or chlorine – which can be depleted, rationed, diverted or blocked from delivery. Far too often, essential services are deliberately denied. “Water is a necessity for life and deliberate attacks on water and sanitation are also attacks on vulnerable children,” UNICEF executive director, Fore, further said. Earlier reports had indicated dire economic impact of violence against children in Nigeria, estimating the cost to be about $6.1 billion, which is equivalent to about 1.07 percent of the country’s GDP. The reports said the financial loss was a cumulative loss of earnings due to loss of productivity, stemming from suffering associated with different degrees of violence over time. At a recent interactive session among stakeholders in Abuja, Permanent Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs. Ifeoma Anagbogu, said: “When it comes to violence against children, the cost of inaction is very high. So it is clear that we need to eliminate any form of violence against children – both from moral angle and from economic perspective.” One study had revealed that about half of the Nigerian children surveyed experienced physical violence by parents, adult relatives, direct or indirect caregivers or community members before they reach the age of 18. UNICEF is marking the 30th anniversary of the Convention of the Rights of the Child this year, a development that has focused on encouraging collective effort to protect children from violence, abuse and neglect. Hopefully, intensified focus of attention on the plights of children may yield positive results and bring about a safer world for the seemingly helpless and hapless children.