A third of the world’s children do not have clean water at school, which affects their health and limits their ability to learn, according to a report published Wednesday by UNESCO.
“Globally, almost one in three schools does not have drinking water (…). One in three schools lacks basic sanitation. Nearly half of schools do not have handwashing facilities with soap and water. Progress is very slow”, according to the document published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
“Children from low-income countries are less likely to attend schools that provide these basic services, and coverage is lowest in sub-Saharan Africa and the Pacific,” the text says.
This lack of infrastructure prevents schools from offering “a safe environment that protects children against diseases such as Covid-19, parasites, respiratory diseases and diarrhea,” the coordinator of this UNESCO publication told the AFP news agency, Emily Sidaner.
This situation represents a challenge especially for girls, and sometimes even for teachers, who “cannot go to school during their menstrual period,” making it difficult for “equitable access to education for girls,” Sidaner said. , specialist in health and school meals.
In Bhutan, a quarter of girls do not go to school at certain times of their menstrual period, as do one in five girls in Côte d’Ivoire and one in seven in Burkina Faso, the coordinator of the document noted.
The impact is also strong on child malnutrition, because schools, without drinking water, cannot prepare meals for their students, Sidaner said.
For the official, “we need to invest more in water and sanitation,” stressing that hunger takes away students’ concentration and desire to learn.
“If students are not healthy, well fed and protected at school, it will be more difficult for them to acquire the knowledge that the school environment can transmit to them”, lamented Emilie Sidaner.
Source: TSF
