24 May 2011: The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the EU are supporting sustainable programmes to address water scarcity exacerbated by climate change by empowering nomadic communities in Kenya and Ethiopia to take responsibility for their access to safe water and sanitation.

The Samburu people, a pastoral community in Kenya, have traditionally moved during dry seasons in search of water for their livestock. Population pressure has changed this coping mechanism due to less availability of land. Similarly, the communities located in the Tigray region of Ethiopia are suffering from the effects of land degradation.

UNICEF and the EU are providing pumps for these traditional people as they adapt to a non-nomadic lifestyle and the impacts of climate change. [UNICEF Press Release]