Water, hygiene, and sanitation on Mexico’s southern border
UNICEF supports national efforts to provide safe water for migrant children and families.
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Milton and his family left their home country, Nicaragua, looking for dignified livelihoods for their three children, Agustin, Mariela, and baby Mario. "My family was at risk. I did not see any future neither for me nor for my children in my country. So, we decided to move ", Milton said.
They undertook their journey to the United States in March. During their transit, they stayed in a shelter supported by UNICEF in Tapachula, Mexico. There they have benefited from the improvements in the water and sanitation system. "The water access is a priority for those in the shelter. Now, we have dignified restrooms and water access to do the laundry. Also, we have access to water quality that prevents diseases for our children", he added.
The migration of children and their families is a very complex phenomenon that has been increasing in the last decade. Mexico's southern border is an area of high migratory activity with thousands of people entering every month through the municipalities of Suchiate and others closer to Tapachula.
In Tapachula, hundreds of people attend their appointments and register daily with the national migration authorities to start their regulation or asylum application processes. While waiting for their procedures, they are prone to suffer the ravages of the climate in Tapachula, which is extremely hot and humid that can cause cases of dehydration in children. In addition to access to drinking water, given the increase in the number of people arriving daily in Mexico, there are other sanitation and hygiene challenges, such as the number of bathrooms and showers available in different facilities that serve the population in terms of mobility, considering the city's shelters.
That is why UNICEF's water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) programme is essential to be prepared at all times to respond to the needs of each site and thus ensure that every child in a migration situation has the best possible conditions during their stay in Tapachula, Chiapas.
UNICEF distributes hygiene kits for children and families containing toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap bars, paper towels, cloth wipes, deodorant, shampoo, comb, antibacterial gel, mouth covers, sanitary pads, and a brochure with information on hand washing and soap powder. It also supports infrastructure improvements in shelters and strategic points where many people are concentrated; training for authorities, hydration points, hand washing stations, and mobile WASH units (showers, toilets, sinks, and diaper changing tables).
UNICEF also contributes to the connection of the shelters to the drinking water and sewage network, like the shelter where Milton stays. Since their creation, these spaces have had no connection to the sewage and/or drinking water network. Many families could not bathe daily, wash their clothes, or drink enough water.
These daily actions benefit hundreds of children from countries such as Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Honduras, Haiti, El Salvador, Guatemala, Senegal, Colombia, among others.
