Record Amazon Basin Drought Impacts 420,000 Children: UNICEF

A drought in much of South America impacts more than 420,000 children living in the Amazon basin, according to new estimates from UNICEF.

The record-breaking drought — ongoing since last year — has left rivers in the region at an all-time low, a press release from UNICEF said.

The lack of rain has affected river transportation and water supplies for Indigenous children and their communities in Colombia, Brazil and Peru. Families use the rivers to access and transport water, food, fuel and medical supplies. The children also use them to travel to school.

“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 Executive Director of UNICEF Catherine Russell in the press release.

Food insecurity caused by the drought has increased malnutrition risk in the region’s children, while restricted access to drinking water could lead to an increase in infectious diseases, UNICEF said, as AFP reported.

“Food insecurity caused by drought increases the risk of malnutrition, stunting and wasting, and death in children,” the press release said. “Research has also found that pregnant women who experience droughts are likely to have children with lower birth weights.”

In the Brazilian Amazon, more than 760 medical clinics and over 1,700 schools have become inaccessible or were forced to close due to low river levels.

In addition to essential health, child protection and education services being drastically disrupted in the region, fishing and agricultural livelihoods have also been interrupted, putting lives at risk.

“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,” UNICEF said.

According to the latest field assessment by UNICEF, half of families across 14 communities in Brazil’s Southern Amazon said their children are not currently in school because of the drought.

Loreto in Northeastern Peru is the most drought-affected region in the country, putting remote, mostly Indigenous communities that are already vulnerable at risk. The drought has caused over 50 healthcare centers there to become inaccessible.

Wildfires in Peru, often started by humans but made worse by the past two months of drought, have brought unprecedented biodiversity loss and devastation in 22 of Peru’s 26 regions, as well as increased air pollution regionally and locally.

The Amazon is the planet’s largest and most diverse tropical rainforest.

UNICEF estimates it will take $10 million in the coming months to address drought-affected communities’ most urgent needs in Colombia, Peru and Brazil. This will include distributing water and additional essential supplies, strengthening the resilience of local public services and community-based systems in affected Indigenous communities and the mobilization of health brigades.

“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,” Russell said. 

Ahead of the COP29 United Nations Climate Change Conference next week, UNICEF is asking leaders to carry out four critical actions for young people and children, including ensuring that the COP29 Cover Decision addresses the disproportionate and unique impact climate change has on children; securing a dramatic increase in funding for adaptation, loss and damage and climate financing for children; guaranteeing that all Nationally Determined Contributions are sensitive to children and respond to the disproportionate impact climate change has on them; and empowering young people and children to meaningfully participate and be present in decision-making on climate at all levels.

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