UNICEF SUMMARY

Dr. Jassim Taqui DG Al-Bab Institute for Strategic Studies

Islamabad, 9 November, According to a UNICEF analysis released today, 27.7 million children in 27 countries have been impacted by flooding so far this year, just in 2022 and counting.

 

“In Chad, the Gambia, and north-east Bangladesh the worst floods in a GENERATION were recorded this year. For Pakistan, the floods were the worst on record.

 

“These rolling disasters are straining the ability of governments and the international community to respond at the enormous scale needed. And placing millions of children as we speak TODAY at severe risk of starvation, disease, exploitation, and death.

 

“I saw this myself last week when I was in Pakistan visiting the worst-affected areas. There, 11 million children need immediate assistance.

 

“In Larkana, I met a 15-year-old girl called Surah, who showed me the rubble of her beloved home. Two months earlier, as floodwater seeped into her house, the roof above her began to collapse.

 

“Terrified, she grabbed her younger brothers and sisters and fled to a nearby bypass, where they lived for weeks in a makeshift tent made of plastic bags and sticks.

 

“But Surah was lucky. In a village where the flood water reached 5 feet or 1.5 meters, villagers told us that not all the children who tried to flee made it.

 

“Now consider Sugrah’s story, but multiply it by the highest factor.

 

“In the weeks since the unprecedented floods devastated Pakistan, the emergency has become a multi-headed monster.

 

“Pakistan’s worst floods in 100 years have killed at least 615 children and left 10 million girls and boys needing immediate, lifesaving support.

 

“The floods have contaminated drinking water, which is spawning deadly water-borne diseases such as acute watery diarrhea, which compounds already acute malnutrition. Estimates suggest close to 1.6 million children in flood areas could be suffering from severe acute malnutrition.

 

“The stagnant water is a perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes, increasing the risk of malaria and dengue. There are crises on top of crises.

 

“Without urgent action, many more vulnerable children and young people will lose their lives in the days and weeks to come. And without climate action, hundreds of millions more will almost certainly suffer like those in Pakistan.

 

“We are reaching final warnings. Right now Pakistan is drowning in the world’s inaction.

 

“One of the most important but heartbreaking things about climate change is that its most horrific impacts are often reserved for those who are least responsible for creating the problem.

 

“International climate scientists found the recent Pakistan floods were made worse by climate change, and predicted the intensity of the country’s rainfall will “significantly” increase as the planet continues to warm. Pakistan is on the frontlines of the climate crisis but its contribution to global emissions is less than 1 percent.