According to the new report, around 818 million children lacked opportunities for basic hand hygiene in schools in 2019.
This exposes them to an increased risk of being infected with covid-19 and other communicable diseases in schools, the World Health Organization and the UN Children's Fund Unicef stated on Thursday.
- We must prioritize children's learning. This means ensuring that schools are safe to reopen - with access to hand hygiene, clean drinking water and safe sanitation solutions, says Henrietta Fore, UNICEF's Director General in a written statement.
More than a third of children (295 million) live in sub-Saharan Africa. In the least developed countries, 7 out of 10 schools lack basic washing facilities. Half of the schools lack basic access to water and sanitation.
The report emphasizes that governments seeking to control the spread of covid-19 must balance the need to implement public health measures against the social and economic effects of closing schools as activities.
Evidence of the negative effects of long-term school closures is well documented in terms of child safety, well-being and learning, the report says.
"School closures around the world since the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic have become an unparalleled challenge in terms of children's education and well - being," said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF's Director General.