ISLAMABAD, Nov 8 (APP): Director of the Division of Global Communication and Advocacy, United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), Paloma Escudero on Tuesday said that agency is working with youth climate activists from around the world to spotlight the impact of the climate crisis on the poorest children.
According to a UNICEF analysis report released, around 27.7 million children in 27 countries have been impacted by flooding so far this year.
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 at severe risk of starvation, disease, exploitation and death.
There, 11 million children are in need of immediate assistance in Pakistan.”
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. In Africa, just like in Pakistan, children are paying the price for a climate disaster not of their making.
From the extreme drought and risk of famine in Somalia to the erratic rains across the Sahel, UNICEF is being challenged to respond at an unprecedented scale to emergencies that have all the markings of climate-induced disasters.”
