Blog post
Building glaciers and moving mountains
Khaplu, Gilgit-Baltistan: , Our ancestors understood nature. They built artificial glaciers, man-made ice structures formed during the colder months to store water and release it slowly during the dry spring, when seasonal shortages make life difficult. These ingenious systems helped mountain communities survive i...
Press release
UNICEF appoints Youth Advocate for Climate Action and Girls Empowerment in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD, 7 February 2025, – Zunaira Qayyum, 14, has been appointed as UNICEF’s Youth Advocate for Climate Action and Girls Empowerment in Pakistan. Hailing from Balochistan, Zunaira is a champion for climate action and child rights, having represented Pakistan’s youth at national and international forums includ...
Press release
Pakistan commits to protect children and young people from the impacts of climate change at COP 29
BAKU, 16 November 2024, –, , The Government of Pakistan, along with the Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Governments affirmed their commitment to protect the rights and interests of children and young people in the face of climate change at an event with UNICEF at the COP 29 Summit in ...
Statement
Over 11 million children under 5 in peril as they breathe toxic air in Punjab, Pakistan, UNICEF warns
ISLAMABAD, 11 November 2024, – “As smog continues to persist in Punjab province, I am extremely concerned about the well-being of young children who are forced to breathe polluted, toxic air. Over 11 million children under five years of age are exposed to this smog in the worst affected districts. Air pollution levels broke records in Lahore and Multan this past week with…
Statement
Over 6 million children at risk as deadly floods lash across South Asia
NEW DELHI/ KATHMANDU, 30 July 2024, – “UNICEF is alarmed about reports of children and young people affected by torrential rain, flash floods and landslides that have lashed Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan. “Our sympathies go out to children and families who have lost loved ones due to extreme ...
Article
Upended by climate
A NEW global stocktaking report released today by Unicef shows that climate change is impacting almost every aspect of child health and well-being, from pregnancy to adolescence. Nowhere is the impact more visible than on children in Pakistan, which recorded the wettest April this year in over 60 years. Torrential...
Press release
Improving energy resilience in Pakistan can avert 175,000 child and adult deaths
ISLAMABAD/ NEW YORK, 31 May 2024 – A new UNICEF study shows that powering more health facilities with resilient energy in Pakistan could avert over 175,000 deaths by 2030 and contribute US$ 296 million to Pakistan’s economy by 2044 by the reduced maternal, adult and infant mortality, as well as a lower disease bur...
Article
Planet vs. Plastics: 5 ways you can help phase out plastic pollution
Pakistan has one of the highest rates of improperly managed plastic in South Asia. [1] According to a 2021 report from UNDP, Rethinking Pakistan’s Relationship with Plastics , more than 3 million tons of plastic is wasted each year in Pakistan. If dumped all at once, the plastic waste is 16,500 meters, or the heig...
Statement
UNICEF calls for urgent action to save Pakistan’s children on the frontlines of climate change
ISLAMABAD, 22 April 2024, – “Torrential and unseasonal rains are currently sweeping through Pakistan, once again putting children’s lives in danger. “It is a reminder of the devastating tragedy in 2022, when 500 children lost their lives as 10 years’ worth of rains were dumped on villages in southern Sindh. I saw...
Press release
ADB and UNICEF join hands to strengthen climate resilient water and sanitation services in two major cities of Pakistan
Islamabad, Pakistan, 5 March 2024, — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today signed a Letter of Understanding (LOU) to collaborate on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and solid waste management interventions under an ADB-funded project in the cities of Rawalpindi ...
Press release
Weather-related disasters led to 43.1 million displacements of children over six years - UNICEF
NEW YORK, 6 October 2023, –, , Weather-related disasters caused 43.1 million internal displacements of children in 44 countries over a six-year period – or approximately 20,000 child displacements a day - according to a new UNICEF analysis released today. Children Displaced in a Changing Climate is the first global analysis of the number of children driven from their homes …, PROTECT, children and young people from the impacts of climate c...
Press release
76 per cent of children exposed to extreme high temperatures in South Asia - UNICEF
NEW DELHI/KATHMANDU, 7 August 2023, –, , South Asia has the highest percentage of children exposed to extreme high temperatures, compared to all other regions, according to a UNICEF analysis. UNICEF estimates that 76 per cent of children under 18 in South Asia – 460 million – are exposed to extreme high tempera...