One in three students in the world does not have access to drinking water, reports UNESCO

“On a global scale, close to one in three schools do not have drinking water (…). One in three schools does not have basic sanitation facilities”, reports the document entitled “Ready to learn and thrive: health at school and nutrition in the world”.

“Almost half of schools lack facilities for washing hands with soap and water. And progress is very slow”, details the text.

“Children in low-income countries are less likely to attend schools that offer these basic services, and coverage is weaker in sub-Saharan Africa and the Pacific,” he says.

The lack of infrastructure prevents schools from offering “a safe environment that protects against diseases, covid, parasites, respiratory diseases, diarrhea”, notes the coordinator of this UNESCO publication, Emilie Sidaner, interviewed by AFP.

This represents a “challenge” especially for girls — and sometimes also for teachers — who “cannot go to school when they are menstruating”, says the health and school nutrition specialist.

This makes it difficult for girls to have “equitable access to education”, Emilie highlighted.

The impact is also strong on child malnutrition, as schools do not have clean water to cook for their students, he explains.

“We need to invest more in water and sanitation”, because this allows “quality learning”, while hunger affects concentration and the desire to learn, he added.

“If students are not healthy, well fed and protected at school, it is more difficult for them to acquire the knowledge that can be transmitted”, lamented the specialist.

(With AFP)

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