One year after historic floods devastated Pakistan and a national state of emergency was declared, millions of children continue to need humanitarian assistance and access to essential services, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned in a statement Friday. Meanwhile, this season’s monsoon rains are worsening already challenging conditions for flood-affected communities, tragically claiming the lives of 212 people across the country, including 87 children.
The UNICEF warning comes as this year’s flooding around the Sutlej River has affected seven districts in Punjab Province. Over 238,000 people and 17,000 livestock have reportedly been relocated to safer areas, and a significant amount of farmland and crops have been submerged, causing further damage to the affected communities.
UNICEF estimates there are still 8 million people, around half of whom are children, that continue to live without access to safe water in areas affected by the 2022 floods. This leaves families with no choice but to drink and use water potentially contaminated with disease.
The UN agency said over 1.5 million children require lifesaving nutrition interventions in flood-affected districts, but recovery and rehabilitation efforts remain underfunded. UNICEF’s current appeal of US$173.5 million to provide life-saving support remains only 57 percent funded.
“Vulnerable children living in flood-affected areas have endured a horrific year,” said Abdullah Fadil, UNICEF Representative in Pakistan.
“They lost their loved ones, their homes and schools. As the monsoon rains return, the fear of another climate disaster looms large. Recovery efforts continue, but many remain unreached, and the children of Pakistan risk being forgotten.”
Last year’s floods submerged one third of the country, affecting 33 million people, half of whom were children. Vital infrastructure was damaged or destroyed – including 30,000 schools, 2,000 health facilities and 4,300 water systems.
The climate-related disaster deepened pre-existing inequities for children and families in affected districts. One third of children were already out of school before the floods, malnutrition was reaching emergency levels and access to safe drinking water and sanitation was worryingly low.
Since August 2022, UNICEF and humanitarian partner organizations have reached 3.6 million people with primary health care services; enabled access to safe water for 1.7 million people in areas where water networks were damaged or destroyed; reached over 545,000 children and caregivers with mental health and psychosocial support; and supported education for over 258,000 children.
Despite the passage of nearly a year since the floods, Pakistan is currently facing an imminent nutrition crisis, which has been aggravated by pre-existing high rates of malnutrition in flood-affected regions. Of particular concern is the increasing malnutrition among young children, as undernutrition accounts for nearly half of all deaths in children under five.
Over the past twelve months, UNICEF has screened 2.1 million children for severe acute malnutrition – a condition where children are too thin for their height - and admitted 172,000 children for lifesaving treatment.
“UNICEF calls on the Government of Pakistan and partners to increase and sustain investment in basic social services for children and families. We must build back climate-resilient systems that bridge equity gaps and reduce vulnerability to climate shocks,” said Fadil.
“We cannot forget the children of Pakistan. The flood waters have gone, but their troubles remain, in this climate volatile region.”
Pakistan is highly susceptible to natural hazards, such as drought, earthquakes, floods, and landslides, which can generate widespread displacement and humanitarian needs. Heavy rains and a combination of riverine, urban and flash flooding led to an unprecedented climate-induced humanitarian disaster in Pakistan that started in June 2022, causing widespread fatalities, killing livestock, and damaging and destroying public and private infrastructure across the country.
Rain-induced landslides and floods also damaged agricultural land and forests, impacting local ecosystems. The floods and heavy rains affected some 33 million people, including at least 7.9 million people who were internally displaced. Over 1,700 women, men, and children lost their lives, and a further 12,900 were injured. Flooding damaged or destroyed more than 2.3 million houses.
The 2022 floods significantly exacerbated household food insecurity by damaging or destroying millions of acres of agricultural lands and crops —including grain stores, along with cotton, rice, and wheat crops—and killing approximately 1.2 million livestock. Wasting—the deadliest form of malnutrition—remains prevalent among children five years of age and younger in Pakistan.
UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, is the agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide. Created in 1946 as the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, UNICEF is today one of the largest humanitarian organizations in the world. UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to protect children’s rights.
Further information
Full text: One year on from catastrophic floods, millions of children in Pakistan still need urgent support, UNICEF press release, published August 25, 2023
https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/one-year-catastrophic-floods-millions-children-pakistan-still-need-urgent-support