The floods in Pakistan have not only hit normal life but it is feared that people displaced by the deluge face life-threatening illnesses and diseases including cerebral malaria, for which there is no available medicine.
The death toll has claimed 1,500 lives including 552 children.
This disaster has displaced over eight million people even as the UN along with the authorities and partners are providing desperately needed relief items to the affected population.
Southern Sindh is facing unprecedented challenges as many areas are still underwater. The situation is no different in Eastern Balochistan
According to Gerida Birukila, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Pakistan Chief of Field Office in Balochistan, there is a crisis of food and shelter and health care has also been not up to match what is required to face the disaster of such magnitude.
The roads and bridges have been washed away and water is also not receding.
Meanwhile, the UN has taken relief efforts on a massive scale, transporting more than 1.2 million relief items to local authorities in the areas worst affected by the flood. One million life-saving items have been handed over to the authorities for distribution till date.
Also Read:- Underfunding hits UNHCR operations in Uganda
It is being warned that it could take “up to six months for floodwaters to recede” in the areas worst affected by the flood.
This has also brought a very difficult unforeseen situation for 1.3 million Afghan refugees living in Pakistan. A total of 800,000 Afghan refugees live in more than 45 “calamity hit” districts out of 80 affected locations. According to UNHCR, four of the worst-hit districts in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Sindh provinces host the highest number of refugees.
Hundreds of vulnerable refugee families have been given emergency cash assistance by UNHCR.
UN’s Central Emergency Relief Fund (CERF) has already announced a $7 million disbursement package to help Pakistan fight the devastating monsoon flood, which is the worst flood in more than a decade.
Follow and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn
