The country is observing Water Week, with Monday marking World Water Day.

Unicef has released a report with alarming statistics, which revealed that one in five children globally doesn't have enough water to meet their everyday needs.

"The world's water crisis is not simply coming, it is here, and climate change will only make it worse," said UNICEF executive director Henrietta Fore. "Children are the biggest victims. When wells dry-up, children are the ones missing school to fetch water. When droughts diminish food supplies, children suffer from malnutrition and stunting. When floods hit, children fall ill from waterborne illnesses. And when water resources decline, children cannot wash their hands to fight off diseases."

EWN reports Department of Water and Sanitation spokesperson, Sputnik Ratau, said no matter what progress was being made with water provision, it was always hampered by South Africa's aging infrastructure.

“That has been some kind of an Achilles heel for the country. Even as the bulk continues to grow, the cost of the aging infrastructure, the actual percentages in terms of reliable water supply will always come down.”

But this is not unique to South Africa; worldwide, water scarcity is a major problem.

According to Unicef, more than 1.42 billion people – including 450 million children – live in areas of high or extremely high water vulnerability.

"Children in 37 ‘hotspot’ countries face especially dire circumstances in terms of absolute numbers, the proportions of children affected, and where global resources, support and urgent action must be mobilised. This list includes Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Haiti, Kenya, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Sudan, Tanzania and Yemen," the report noted.

The organisation's Samuel Godfrey, who is based in Nairobi, said while the demand for water continued to increase dramatically, resources were dwindling.

“The experience from Cape Town in South Africa really showed us that if we don’t have adequate water management practices in place, we can reach a ‘day zero’ point.”

Calls have been made to address the water crisis now and prevent the global situation from getting even worse.

In response, Unicef is launching the Water Security for All initiative to ensure every child has access to sustainable and climate-resilient water services.

The initiative aims to mobilise resources, partnerships, innovation and global response to identified hotspots where the need for safe, resilient and sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene services is the greatest and most urgent.

"We have to act now both to address the water crisis and to prevent it from getting any worse,” said Fore. “We can only achieve water security for every child through innovation, investment and collaboration, and by ensuring services are sustainable and resilient to climate shocks. For our children and our planet, we have to act.”

EWN