Over 420,000 children affected by record-breaking drought in the Amazon region

PANAMA CITY/NEW YORK, 7 November 2024 - More than 420,000 children are currently affected by dangerous levels of water scarcity and drought conditions across three countries in the Amazon region, according to new UNICEF estimates.

The record-breaking drought – which has been ongoing since last year and has left Amazon basin rivers at an all-time low – is severely impacting riverside and indigenous children and communities in Brazil, Colombia and Peru, where families rely on the rivers to transport and access food, water, fuel, and basic medical supplies, as well as a way to travel to school.

Essential services, including health, education, and child protection, as well as agriculture and fishing livelihoods, are also severely disrupted in the region, putting lives at risk.

“For centuries the Amazon has been home to precious natural resources. We are witnessing the devastation of an essential ecosystem that families rely on, leaving many children without access to adequate food, water, health care and schools,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “We must mitigate the effects of extreme climate crises to protect children today and future generations. The health of the Amazon affects the health of us all.”

As the largest, most diverse tropical rainforest on Earth, the Amazon spans nine countries in South America. In Brazil’s Amazon region alone, more than 1,700 schools and over 760 health centres have either been shuttered or become inaccessible due to low water levels. According to UNICEF’s latest field assessment across 14 communities in the Southern Amazon in Brazil, half of families said their children are currently out of school as a result of the drought.

In the Colombian Amazon, river water levels have dropped by up to 80 per cent, restricting access to drinking water and food supplies, and leading to the suspension of in-person classes for children at more than 130 schools. In turn, this has increased children's risk of recruitment, use and exploitation by non-state armed groups, and has also led to increased respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, malaria, and acute malnutrition among children under age 5.

In Peru, the North-Eastern region of Loreto is most affected by the ongoing drought, leaving remote communities – most of them indigenous and already vulnerable – at risk. More than 50 healthcare centres have become inaccessible, while wildfires – often manmade but whose spread has been facilitated by the droughts in the past two months – are also causing unprecedented devastation and biodiversity loss in 22 of the 26 regions in the country and increasing air pollution locally and regionally.

Food insecurity caused by drought increases the risk of malnutrition, stunting and wasting, and death in children, particularly those under 5 years, while water scarcity made worse by droughts can lead to poorer access to clean water, and an increase in infectious diseases. Research has also found that pregnant women who experience droughts are likely to have children with lower birth weights.

UNICEF estimates that US$10 million is needed during the upcoming months to address the most urgent needs of communities affected by the droughts in Brazil, Colombia and Peru, including the distribution of water and other essential supplies, mobilisation of health brigades, and strengthening the resilience of community-based systems and local public services in affected indigenous communities.

Ahead of COP29, UNICEF is calling for leaders to deliver four critical actions for children and young people:

•Ensure that the COP29 Cover Decision responds to the unique and disproportionate impact of climate change on children.

•Secure a dramatic increase in climate financing for children including funding for adaptation and loss and damage.

•Guarantee that all NDCs (Nationally Determined Contributions) 3.0 are child sensitive and respond to the disproportionate impact of climate change on children.

•Empower children and young people to be present and meaningfully participate in climate decision-making at all levels.

“In all parts of the world, children face devastating consequences of climate crises,” added Russell. “We are at a critical juncture. Children must be at the center of our climate negotiations”.