More than four months after the declaration of the state of national emergency in Pakistan, nearly four million children continue to live near contaminated and stagnant water from floods, a situation that endangers their survival and well-being, he warned on Monday. UNICEF.
In flood-affected areas, acute respiratory infections among children, one of the leading causes of child mortality worldwide, skyrocketed, and the number of children diagnosed with severe malnutrition almost doubled between July and December compared to 2021; an estimated 1.5 million children still need basic life-saving treatment.
“Children living in areas of Pakistan flood-affected are on the brink of the abyss“said the UNICEF representative in Pakistan.
Abdullah Fadil stressed that, despite the end of the rains, “some ten million girls and boys continue to need immediate help to save their lives and face a harsh winter without adequate shelter. Severe acute malnutrition, respiratory diseases and those transmitted by water, together with the cold, endanger the lives of millions of young people.”
In Jacobabad, a district in the south of the country where many families live in makeshift shelters due to stagnant water, temperatures dropped to 7ºC at night. In the mountainous and high-altitude areas affected by the floods, the records dropped below 0ºC.
UNICEF’s appeal for those affected by the floods does not reach 40%
UNICEF is providing warm clothing kits, jackets, blankets and duvets, with the aim of reaching nearly 200,000 children, women and men. Of the more than 800,000 children tested for malnutrition; 60,000 suffered from severe acute malnutrition, a life-threatening condition in which children are too thin for their height.
The agency’s health actions benefited almost 1.5 million people with primary care services, and 4.5 million children were immunized against polio in 16 flood-affected districts.
UNICEF and partners also provided more than a million people with access to clean water and hygiene kits for another million. In the coming months, the agency will continue to respond to urgent humanitarian needs, while restoring and rehabilitating existing health, water, sanitation and education facilities for families returning to their homes.
The agency called on the international community to urgently provide additional humanitarian aid, and ensure the timely release of funds to save lives before it is too late. UNICEF’s current appeal for $173.5 million to support women and children affected by the floods is only 37% funded.
The United Nations Children’s Fund in Pakistan has permanent field offices in all four provinces of the country and has established four centers to bring the agency’s operations and programs closer to the most affected areas.
