Attacks that damaged or destroyed water and sanitation systems in conflict tripled between 2021 and 2025, according to UNICEF’s Water Under Fire report, Volume 4, released on Thursday. The report documents attacks on water, sanitation and hygiene systems, their workers and the communities that depend on them across 23 countries and territories between January 2021 and June 2026, including Sudan, the State of Palestine, Ukraine and Myanmar. Incidents rose from fewer than 45 across eight countries in 2021 to more than 135 across 15 countries in 2025.
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said attacks on water and sanitation systems deprive children of safe drinking water and of the essential services that rely on water to function. The report describes seven ways safe water is compromised, from strikes on treatment plants, pipelines and wells to contamination of water sources and restrictions on spare parts and treatment chemicals. It also documents children killed or injured while waiting in line for water, citing numerous examples from the Gaza Strip.
The country cases are cumulative rather than single events. In Burkina Faso, more than 145 water points were destroyed in attacks between 2020 and 2025, cutting off access for around 830,000 people, more than half of them children. In Gaza, since October 2023, more than 130,000 metres of sewage pipeline have been damaged, with untreated sewage discharged into the Mediterranean or to temporary holding areas. In Ukraine, attacks on energy infrastructure had left almost 7 million children without sustained access to electricity, heating and water by December 2022. A drone attack on a gas field in Iraq in November 2025 cut electricity production in the Kurdistan region by about 80 percent, forcing rationing among hospitals, cities and water facilities.
UNICEF estimates 138 million people need humanitarian water and sanitation assistance across the conflict affected countries it covers. The agency’s figures are reported attacks, and it notes the true scale is likely far greater because no global tracking mechanism exists. The pattern the report establishes is that water systems are no longer collateral damage but a recurring target set, with consequences measured in disease outbreaks and malnutrition rather than in the strikes themselves. Status: report published by UNICEF on November 5, 2026.