More than three million children are in need of humanitarian assistance and at increased risk of waterborne diseases, drowning and malnutrition due to the most severe flooding in Pakistan’s recent history, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned today. UNICEF says it is working with Government and non-government partners to respond to the urgent needs of children and families in affected areas.
33 million people - including approximately 16 million children - have been affected by this year’s heavy monsoon rains in Pakistan, which have brought devastating rains, floods and landslides. Over 1,100 people including over 350 children have lost their lives, and a further 1,600 have been injured. Over 287,000 houses have been fully, and 662,000 partially, destroyed. Some major rivers have breached their banks and dams overflowed, destroying homes, farms and critical infrastructure including roads, bridges, schools, hospitals and public health facilities. In affected areas, 30 per cent of water systems are estimated to have been damaged, further increasing the risk of disease outbreaks with people resorting to open defecation and drinking unsafe water.
The rainfall - nearly three times the national 30-year average, and more than five times the 30-year average in some provinces, has led to the Pakistani government declaring a national emergency, with 72 districts declared ‘calamity hit’ – mostly in Balochistan and Sindh, the two worst-affected provinces, as well as in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab.
According to UNICEF, cases of diarrhoea and water-borne diseases, respiratory infection, and skin diseases have already been reported. They affect populations which are very vulnerable – 40 per cent of children already suffered from stunting, caused by chronic undernutrition, before the floods hit. The perilous humanitarian situation is expected to continue to worsen in the days and weeks ahead as heavy rains continue in regions already underwater.
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: “More than three million children at risk as devastating floods hit Pakistan”, UNICEF press release, published 1. September 2022
https://www.unicef.org/rosa/press-releases/more-three-million-children-risk-devastating-floods-hit-pakistan
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