News Center- The record-breaking drought has been ongoing in the Amazon region since last year and has left Amazon basin rivers at an all-time low. It is severely impacting riverside and indigenous children and communities in Brazil, Colombia and Peru, where families rely on the rivers to transport and access food, water, fuel, and basic medical supplies, as well as a way to travel to school.

More than 420,000 children are currently affected by dangerous levels of water scarcity and drought conditions across three countries in the Amazon region, according to new UNICEF estimates.

“Essential services, including health, education, and child protection, as well as agriculture and fishing livelihoods, are also severely disrupted in the region, putting lives at risk,” UNICEF said on Thursday.

As the largest, most diverse tropical rainforest on Earth, the Amazon spans nine countries in South America. “In Brazil’s Amazon region alone, more than 1,700 schools and over 760 health centres have either been shuttered or become inaccessible due to low water levels,” UNICEF added.

According to UNICEF’s latest field assessment across 14 communities in the Southern Amazon in Brazil, half of families said their children are currently out of school as a result of the drought.

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.

“For centuries the Amazon has been home to precious natural resources,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said. “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. 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.”