By Tendai Makaripe
Tatenda (not real name) hoists a yellow bucket while her six-year-old son trots alongside on the muddy path to one of the unprotected wells in Green Valley, Epworth.
The water is cloudy but close; the dam near Ruwa is a longer, riskier walk. There are no pipes here, only shacks stitched from timber and tin.
By evening, the boy is coughing; the clinic will likely hand over antibiotics. In a settlement without safe taps, pills often stand in for clean water.
A vicious cycle: water scarcity and antimicrobial resistance
Early childhood should be a period of rapid brain development, exploration and play.
Instead, in many informal settlements across Zimbabwe, under‑8s endure repeated bouts of diarrhoea and chest infections because their families lack clean water.
When water is scarce and unsafe, households skip handwashing and latrine cleaning.
Children ingest microbes that make them sick; caregivers reach for antibiotics; the germs learn to fight back.
That cycle—antimicrobial resistance (AMR)—robs young children of sleep, appetite and learning, and it is hastened by drought and poverty.
Globally, unsafe water sources caused 1.2 million deaths in 2017 and left 26 % of the world’s population without safely managed water according to WHO statistics.
Children in low-income communities often rely on communal taps that are unreliable and contaminated.
“There is a link between poor water and sanitation to delayed language and motor development, while improved piped water is associated with better cognition,” said medical doctor Benedict Gudu.
“Without clean water, repeated infections can cause anaemia, stunting and long-term cognitive impairments.”
Statistics show that each antibiotic course given to treat preventable illness also increases the chance that bacteria will become resistant, and by 2019, AMR was directly responsible for 1.27 million deaths.
The 2025 drought: numbers that tell a story
Zimbabwe is enduring its worst drought in four decades.
UNICEF’s 2025 Humanitarian Action for Children appeal warns that 7.6 million people, including 3.5 million children, need urgent assistance because of an El Niño‑induced drought, food crisis and public health emergencies.
The drought affects half the population, and most of the pain falls on rural districts.
The report adds that: “Child wasting has climbed to 4.9 % in rural areas and 5.6 % in urban areas, and only 6.1 % of children aged 4–19 receive hot meals at school. Urban sanitation is weak: more than 50 % of urban households have limited access to sanitation, and 3.3 % still practise open defecation.”
Water systems are breaking down.
As of mid‑2025, 6,028 water points—11 % of the national stock—are broken, and 4 % of identified sources have dried up.
Unicef further notes that diarrhoeal disease cases spiked by 48 % between July and August 2024, rising from 29,445 to 43,661, with 55 % of August cases in children under five.
Such statistics show how drought and infrastructure collapse translate into illness and antibiotic use.
Developmental impact and rights
For under‑8s, each fever, stomach ache or course of antibiotics is not just a passing discomfort but a disruption to growth and learning.
Gudu added that prolonged diarrhoea can stunt height and impair nutrient absorption; respiratory infections disturb sleep and reduce attention. “Repeated illness reduces the time children can focus, play and practise speech. Psychological stress from pain and dehydration increases anxiety and irritability, making it harder to form secure relationships and explore the world,” he said.
These impacts sit uneasily alongside Zimbabwe’s legal commitments. Section 77 of the constitution guarantees every person the right to safe, clean and potable water and sufficient food, while Section 81 affirms children’s rights to health care, nutrition, shelter and education and states that their best interests are paramount.
Internationally, the UN General Assembly recognised safe and clean drinking water as a human right, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child obliges states to provide adequate nutrition and clean water to combat disease and malnutrition.
These instruments mean the state must act to protect children like those in Green Valley.
Voices from the valley and beyond
Every statistic in this story traces back to a person.
At the well, student Tatenda Muringai shrugs over a bucket and admits, “We know the water is not safe, but what choice do we have?”.
For her family, the choice is between thirst and risk.
Trips to the Ruwa dam take hours; the open wells are close but contaminated.
Each time a child falls ill, another round of antibiotics follows, and neighbours worry about the long‑term effects.
On a nearby veranda, Angeline Muzanenhamo tends a small fire. She boils water and drops purification tablets “but the fear of sickness is always there”.
Her three children have missed days of play and early learning because of diarrhoea and coughing fits.
She speaks of the hidden cost: time spent fetching and treating water means less time singing and reading with her toddlers.
Health professionals see the pattern up close.
Veterinary vaccinologist Dr. Sandra Sigauke says that human and animal waste and pharmaceutical runoff turn communal sources into reservoirs of resistant microbes.
“If humans consume untreated water, they can ingest these antimicrobial-resistant germs… which may lead to infections that are difficult to treat with standard antimicrobials”.
She added that sustained exposure to unsafe water causes “chronic gastrointestinal disorders… and other long‑lasting health issues”, which keep children at home and out of playgroups.
Psychologist Ivy Mukombachoto warns that lingering illness “impairs cognitive functions,” reducing focus, participation and motivation—the very behaviours that power early childhood development.
Education workers feel the ripple effect in classrooms.
Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe president Takafira Zhou “When children are sick, they miss valuable learning time which affects their education,” he said.
Policy frameworks and the promise to leave no one behind
The government knows the scale of the problem.
The National Development Strategy 1 pledges to raise access to potable water from 77.3 % to 90 % and improved sanitation from 70.22 % to 77.32 % by 2025
The strategy is anchored in the Sustainable Development Goals’ promise to leave no‑one and no place behind, yet only 29.7 % of households currently have access to improved water and sanitation.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa repeatedly states that his vision of a middle-income Zimbabwe will not leave anyone behind, but progress is uneven.
Zimbabwe’s AMR National Action Plan 2.0 (2024–2028) calls for “stronger surveillance, stewardship and a One Health approach that integrates human, animal and environmental health, while the proposed SADC Child Rights Protocol would establish common standards and accountability for children’s rights.”
Public health analyst Ratidzo Musekiwa said, “These frameworks, if funded and enforced, could align water infrastructure investments with AMR control and child development priorities.
“They dovetail with NDS1 goals and the constitution’s rights guarantees, creating a legal and policy pathway for action.”
Linking water scarcity, AMR and childhood development
Research by 263Chat revealed that the connection between water scarcity, AMR and child development operates at three levels.
First, scarce, unsafe water leads to more diarrhoea and respiratory infections; under-8s are especially vulnerable because their immune systems are still developing.
“When little hands cannot be washed and latrines overflow, microbes spread easily, turning play spaces into transmission hubs,” said Musekiwa.
Second, with weak diagnostics and overloaded clinics, health workers often prescribe antibiotics even for illnesses that should be managed with rehydration and zinc.
Investigations by this publication revealed a lot of unregulated sales in pharmacies and markets, making antibiotics easy to obtain.
Each unnecessary course selects for resistant strains and disrupts a child’s gut microbiome.
Third, repeated illness and antibiotic cycles disrupt learning.
“Malnutrition impairs brain development; fatigue reduces play; microbiome changes may affect immunity and even cognitive functions,” said Gudu. “Families spend time and money seeking care, leaving less for stimulation and nutrition. The social burden extends to teachers and caregivers, who juggle illness and resource scarcity.”
Breaking the cycle: practical steps
Policy makers should treat water and sanitation investments as AMR interventions.
Tracking water access and antibiotic consumption together would reveal whether investments are reducing infections and drug use.
Governance researcher Faith Kamupita said: “Budgets must fund the AMR plan and NDS1 commitments, while the SADC Child Rights Protocol, once ratified, should hold governments accountable for realising children’s rights.”
She added that community organisations should be involved in planning and monitoring, ensuring that the promise to leave no one behind reaches unserved settlements.
For Zimbabwe’s youngest children, safe water is not a luxury but a right and a developmental necessity.
Delivering it is how the nation can make good on its promise to leave no one and no place behind, slow the silent spread of antimicrobial resistance and give children the healthy start they deserve.
