UNICEF has called upon stakeholders to prioritise investment in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) for community resilience against the backdrop of a devastating drought.

In her remarks yesterday at a media briefing in Harare, UNICEF representative to Zimbabwe Ms Etona Ekole said access to safe water is an essential human right.

"As Zimbabwe experiences a difficult drought induced by El Nino, which has led to water scarcity, we are reminded once again that providing access to safe water is a crucial human right and must be prioritised in all our interventions as we respond to the drought," she said.

Ms Ekole said adequate funding for water would go a long way in addressing the challenges associated with water shortages.

"Increased funding will enable the implementation of innovative approaches that build community resilience to effectively mitigate the consequences of climate-related shocks, preserve development gains and protect the well-being of children.

"We are also requesting for increased funding of US$32 million to enable the implementation of innovative approaches within the WASH sector so that we can also build the community resilience mechanism," she said.

"I think we have seen the data that Zimbabwe is going to continue to be prone to climate-related impacts and our temperatures probably by 2030 are going to increase, meaning the impacts of this drought will only increase with time. "So, we need to prioritise water security if we're going to ensure our communities are very much resilient to the impacts of the drought."

WASH specialist, Ms Tariro Mavi said water challenges lead to malnutrition and high child marriages.

"So, the issue of water really cannot be undermined.

"When we look at education, in previous years we have seen that we have had high school dropouts when there is no water, and again, girl children are forced into early marriages as families try to look for coping mechanisms to mitigate the issues that come about due to drought," she said.

"We've also seen abuse cases also rising when we do have water scarcity because children are forced to walk for longer distances to access water."