Devastating floods in Pakistan
UNICEF is on the ground working with partners to help children and families.
Months after unprecedented floods ravaged Pakistan, vast swathes of cropland and villages remain under water, while nearly 10 million girls and boys remain in need of immediate, lifesaving support.
By mid-January 2023, as many as 4 million children were still living near contaminated and stagnant flood waters, risking their survival and wellbeing. Frail, hungry, children are fighting a losing battle against severe acute malnutrition, diarrhoea, malaria, dengue fever, typhoid, acute respiratory infections, and painful skin conditions. As well as physical ailments, the longer the crisis continues, the greater the risk to children’s mental health. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of homes and many public health facilities, water systems and schools have been destroyed or damaged.
UNICEF will continue to respond to urgent humanitarian needs, while also restoring and rehabilitating existing health, water, sanitation and education facilities for families returning home. But much more support is needed to ensure we can reach all families displaced by floods and help them overcome this climate disaster.
We need your urgent support to help save lives.
What is happening?
It will take months, if not years, for families to recover from the sheer scale of the devastation. Food insecurity has reached emergency levels in some areas, with potentially disastrous long-term consequences for the survival and wellbeing of children who were already suffering from malnutrition. Nearly 15 million people in flood-affected areas need emergency food assistance, while an estimated 9 million people are being pushed into monetary poverty and learning losses from the floods.
Damage to water supply systems and sanitation facilities has resulted in millions of people no longer having access to safe drinking water. Despite UNICEF delivering clean water, many families have had no alternative but to drink disease-ridden water. They are now bearing the brunt of deadly water-borne diseases.
So much of the vital infrastructure that children so rely on has been destroyed and damaged – including nearly 27,000 schools and nearly 1,500 public health facilities. As a result, 2 million additional children have been locked out of learning, children have missed out on lifesaving vaccines and treatment for severe acute malnutrition.
Many of the hardest-hit areas are amongst the most vulnerable in Pakistan, where children already suffer from high rates of malnutrition, and poor access to water and sanitation. Climate-related crises will not affect everyone equally. Children will suffer more than adults, with those in the poorest communities bearing the biggest burden.
Help save and protect children in Pakistan
UNICEF is doing everything it can to support children and families affected and protect them from the ongoing dangers of waterborne diseases, malnutrition and protection risks. UNICEF is on the ground with partners, delivering life-saving medical and other emergency supplies to support children and women affected by the floods.
UNICEF is doing everything it can to support children and families affected and protect them from the ongoing dangers of waterborne diseases, malnutrition and protection risks. UNICEF is on the ground with partners, delivering life-saving medical and other emergency supplies to support children and women affected by the floods.
Using pre-positioned emergency supplies, UNICEF delivered drinking water, water purification tablets, hygiene kits, medicines, vaccines, therapeutic nutritional supplements for children, pregnant and lactating women, and mosquito nets. UNICEF and partners have also started providing items such as warm clothing kits, jackets, blankets and quilts. In response to the worsening child survival crisis, more than 800,000 children have been screened for malnutrition.
By early January 2023, UNICEF health interventions had reached nearly 1.5 million people with primary health care services, while 4.5 million children have been immunized against Polio in 16 flood-hit districts. In the months ahead, UNICEF will continue to respond to urgent humanitarian needs, while also restoring and rehabilitating existing health, water, sanitation and education facilities for families returning home.
In these difficult times, your support can save lives. Your contribution can help UNICEF reach more children and families with critical, urgent and life-saving supplies.
UNICEF in emergencies
UNICEF is on the ground before, during, and after emergencies, working to reach children and families with lifesaving aid and long-term assistance. At the onset of an emergency – whether it’s a conflict or a natural disaster – UNICEF is capable of delivering pre-positioned life-saving supplies within 72 hours from a network of supply hubs around the world. Pre-positioned supplies are essential items that are ready to be deployed from strategic locations at any moment, to bring timely relief to an emergency anywhere in the world.
But the work does not stop at delivery. UNICEF works with partners to ensure assistance continues to have a positive impact in the long term, so that children can hope to enjoy healthy lives and fulfill their dreams.
In emergencies, children suffer first, and most.
When a sudden onset emergency such as an earthquake or hurricane strikes, it's children who suffer first and suffer most. As well as the immediate, devastating impacts – loss of life, destruction of homes and communities – the chaos of an emergency can threaten access to food, shelter and social support. Children and mothers are often cut off from basic and essential care, including life-saving medicines and supplies. The risk of malnutrition soars. Shattered infrastructure means families can lose access to adequate sanitation and hygiene facilities, leaving children even more susceptible to waterborne diseases. The destruction of schools means children can lose safety and routine. Without access to education, they risk losing their futures.
Read more about UNICEF’s work in emergencies and its latest humanitarian appeal to support conflict- and disaster-affected children with access to water, sanitation, nutrition, education, health and protection services.
