Source: ChildFund New Zealand
ChildFund New Zealand is warning that escalating global conflict is no longer just driving up fuel prices – it is putting children’s access to clean water directly at risk.
Today Iran announced its plans to target desalination plants and critical infrastructure in response to President Trump’s threat to ‘obliterate’ power plants if the Strait of Hormuz does not open.
Today is World Water Day.
Water infrastructure – including desalination plants, pipelines and treatment facilities – are increasingly being hit as strategic targets in conflict.
“Access to water is getting caught up in this war. When oil prices surge, most people think about petrol. Few think about water,” says ChildFund NZ CEO Josie Pagani.
Water systems run on energy. When fuel prices spike – or when infrastructure is directly threatened – the cost of pumping, treating and delivering water rises immediately. In vulnerable communities, there is no buffer.
In many of the communities where ChildFund NZ works, access to clean water depends on pumps powered by fuel.
“This is true in the Middle East, and in the Pacific where we have many water projects that still rely on fuel.”
When water systems become unreliable, families are forced to turn to unsafe sources. Waterborne diseases spread more easily. Girls are pulled out of school to collect water. Household income is diverted to cope with illness or to buy water.
“Both children living in warzones, and children living thousands of kilometres from a battlefield, are impacted, ” says Josie Pagani.
ChildFund NZ is urging all parties in conflict to recognise water systems as critical civilian infrastructure and ensure they are protected from attack.
In a video shared today, CEO Josie Pagani highlights that children – even in the Middle East – are more than 20 times more likely to die from a lack of clean water than from a bomb, underscoring the critical but often overlooked role water plays in conflict.
“Access to clean water should not be weaponised in war.”
Donate to ChildFund NZ’s Middle East Appeal to support local partners delivering urgent water, food and shelter on the ground.
