UNICEF: 27.7 million children affected in 27 countries by floods

Islamabad, 9 November 2022 (TDI): Paloma Escudero, the Director of the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund’s (UNICEF) Division of Global Communication and Advocacy stated that the organization was collaborating with young climate activists.

She shared that activists from all over the world will be raising awareness of how the climate crisis is affecting the world’s most vulnerable children.

Around 27.7 million children in 27 countries have been affected by flooding so far this year, according to a UNICEF analysis report that was just released.

This year saw the worst floods in a generation in Chad, the Gambia, and northeast Bangladesh. Likewise, the floods in Pakistan were the worst on record.

She shared that “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 at severe risk of starvation, disease, exploitation, and death.

According to Paloma Escudero, 11 million children are in need of immediate assistance in Pakistan. The state of emergency has increased in the weeks since Pakistan was devastated by unprecedented floods.

Also read: UNICEF declares climate crisis a Child rights crisis

At least 615 children have died in Pakistan’s worst floods in a century, and 10 million boys and girls require immediate, life-saving assistance.

Drinking water has been contaminated by floods, leading to the spread of deadly water-borne illnesses like acute watery diarrhea, which exacerbates already severe malnutrition.

Nearly 1.6 million children in flood-affected areas may be severely acutely malnourished, according to estimates.

For mosquitoes, stagnant water makes the ideal breeding ground, which raises the risk of dengue and malaria and leads to crisis after crisis.

Without immediate action, numerous more vulnerable children and teenagers will succumb over the coming days and weeks.

The Director of the UNICEF’s Division of Global Communication and Advocacy shared “We are reaching final warnings. Right now Pakistan is drowning in the world’s inaction.”

She went on to underscore that “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.”

It is pertinent to note that climate change, according to international climate scientists, exacerbated the recent Pakistan floods, and the intensity of the country’s rainfall will “significantly” increase as the planet continues to warm.

Pakistan is at the forefront of the climate crisis, but its share of global emissions is less than 1%. Children in Africa, as well as in Pakistan, are paying the price for a climate disaster that was not their fault.