UNICEF responds as floods affect 3m in Pakistan

UNICEF responds as floods affect over 3 million people in Pakistan

More than 1,400 people are dead and over a million children are in need of emergency assistance after devastating floods hit Pakistan.

The province most affected by the floods – the worst since 1929 – is Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, located in the mountains of north-western Pakistan. Many of the province’s estimated 3.5 million residents lost their crops and saw their homes flooded, damaged or destroyed.

Communication networks in many areas remain down or disrupted, and ground access is limited because bridges, highways and roads have been blocked or destroyed by the floods.

UNICEF Pakistan Representative, Martin Mogwanja, says there are crucial needs for food and safe drinking water, with potential disease outbreaks among survivors a major concern.

Mr. Mogwanja has just returned from visits to two flood-affected agricultural districts where UNICEF is working to prevent the spread of deadly diarrhoeal diseases in young children.

Providing safe water to the hundreds of thousands of people whose water supply has been polluted or damaged by the floods is now essential. UNICEF is working with the Pakistani authorities to repair wells and drinking water sources as quickly as possible – and to provide chlorine tablets so that water can be treated before it is consumed.

On an aerial assessment of the region, Mr. Mogwanja was able to see firsthand how communities were affected by the floods.

“Houses were literally swimming in the midst of muddy water. Crops had been washed away or destroyed, trees were pushed down by the strength of the water, and walls of buildings had crumbled and fallen.”

Mr. Mogwanja also made ground visits in two districts, where survivors recounted having to climb trees or go to rooftops to save their own lives. He also met people whose relatives had perished in the floods and who were now struggling to keep their loved ones’ bodies dry for proper burials once the floodwaters recede.

Mr. Mogwanja estimated that at least three to six months of work will be needed to restore just the basic facilities that have been destroyed.

Although floodwaters are beginning to recede in some parts of the affected provinces, new storm systems are moving into the area and experts fear renewed flooding.

“There’s going to be great needs in terms of water, shelter and assuring the health care of the population because of water-borne diseases.”

Food security will also present a challenge because much of the food stocks have been lost.

People can donate to UNICEF NZ’s Emergency Fund: http://www.unicef.org.nz/page/23/Emergencyfund.html

ENDS

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