Pakistan, up to 4 million children still live near stagnant and contaminated waters in flood-affected areas

ROME – According to theUNICEFMore than four months after Pakistan declared a state of national emergency, up to 4 million children still live near contaminated and stagnant waters, putting their survival and well-being at risk. Acute respiratory infections among children, a leading cause of child mortality worldwide, have soared in flood-affected areas. In addition, the number of cases of children identified as suffering from severe acute malnutrition in UNICEF-monitored flood-affected areas nearly doubled between July and December compared to 2021; an estimated 1.5 million children still need life-saving nutritional interventions.

On the brink of the abyss. “Children living in flood-affected areas in Pakistan have been pushed to the brink,” said Abdullah Fadil, UNICEF Representative in Pakistan. “The rains may have ended, but the crisis for the children has not. Nearly 10 million girls and boys still need immediate and life-saving support and are heading into a harsh winter without adequate shelter. Severe acute malnutrition, Respiratory and waterborne diseases, along with cold weather, are putting millions of young lives at risk.” In Jacobabad, a southern district where many families have little more than cloth to cover their makeshift shelters from stagnant floodwaters, temperatures dropped as low as 7 degrees Celsius overnight. In the mountainous and high-altitude areas, also affected by the floods, snow has fallen and temperatures have dropped below 0 degrees Celsius.

The help that has arrived. UNICEF and partners have begun providing supplies such as warm clothing kits, jackets, blankets and quilts, aiming to reach nearly 200,000 children, women and men. In response to the deepening child survival crisis, more than 800,000 children were screened for malnutrition; 60,000 were identified as suffering from severe acute malnutrition – a life-threatening condition in which children are too thin for their height – and were referred for treatment with ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTF). UNICEF’s health interventions have so far reached nearly 1.5 million people with primary health care services, and 4.5 million children have been vaccinated against polio in 16 flood-affected districts. UNICEF and partners have also provided more than one million people with access to clean water and one million people with hygiene kits. In the coming months, UNICEF will continue to respond to urgent humanitarian needs by restoring and rehabilitating existing health, water, sanitation and education facilities for returning families.

Urgent funding. To provide immediate and life-saving support, UNICEF is calling on the international community to urgently deliver additional humanitarian assistance and ensure timely disbursement of funds to save lives before it is too late. The current $173.5 million appeal to provide life-saving support to flood-affected women and children is only 37 percent funded. The United Nations Children’s Fund in Pakistan has permanent offices in all four provinces and has established four hubs to bring UNICEF operations and programs closer to the hardest-hit areas. We are collaborating with the Pakistani government, UN agencies and partner NGOs to address the needs of the most vulnerable populations in the 55 disaster-affected districts, both for displaced populations and those returning to their destroyed villages.