Oxfam warns of a massive water shortage in East Africa

Aid organization Oxfam reports that more than 33 million people in East Africa do not have enough drinking water.

And according to a report by the organization issued today, Wednesday, on the occasion of “World Water Day”, that in parts of Somalia, northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia, 90 percent of wells in rural areas have dried up completely, and drinking water prices have increased in the three countries located in the Horn of Africa by 400 percent. cent in some areas since the beginning of 2021, and thus it has become prohibitive for citizens there.

The region is experiencing one of its worst droughts in 40 years. In the recent period, the amounts of rain decreased during five seasons to far below the average. According to the United Nations, nearly 10 million livestock have died due to drought, which means that more than 36 million people will not have enough to eat.

“The hungriest people in the region are also the thirstiest,” said Fati Nzi Hassan, Oxfam’s regional director for Africa, adding that people there now depend on costly water shipments or unsafe polluted wells, explaining that this increases the risk of serious diseases. Like cholera.