The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Edited News | UNHCR , UNICEF , WFP , WHO
Bi-Weekly Press Briefing: Pakistan Floods Update WHO - UNICEF - UNHCR - WFP
TRT: 2’26”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 02 Sept. 2022
HYBRID PRESS BRIEFING
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
Pakistan: dire need of humanitarian aid as a third of the country is underwater amid historic flooding
The scale of the humanitarian crisis in Pakistan is unprecedented, with a third of the country under water, UN humanitarians warned on Friday.
With more than 33 million people impacted, that represents 15 per cent of the total population in Pakistan, said Dr. Palitha MAHIPALA, World Health Organization (WHO) Representative in Pakistan.
Some “6.4 plus million people are in dire need of humanitarian aid”, he said, speaking from Islamabad to journalists in Geneva.
In the past few weeks, record monsoon rains dumped more than five times the 30-year average for rainfall in some provinces, killing more than 1,200 people and injuring over 6,000 since June. Nearly 400 children are among the fatalities.
With 1.1 million houses washed away and vital infrastructure destroyed such as schools, UNICEF’s Representative in Pakistan, Abdullah Fadil, explained that “18,000 schools have been destroyed and thousands of schools are now fully shuttered… So that means children who have lost education for two years are also losing learning opportunities now.”
Besides the massive disruption to the education system, health facilities have been heavily impacted too, leaving the most vulnerable at risk.
The timing couldn’t be worse, as aid agencies have warned of an uptick in waterborne and deadly diseases, such as diarrhoea, cholera, dengue, or malaria. “This country, which had a high level of stunting, already the same areas that are impacted, are the same areas that are now flooded,” said Mr. Fadil. “The anticipation list of waterborne diseases - diarrhoea, cholera, all the diseases you can imagine - will hit, and quite soon, so we need to be in place to respond to those as well.”
As rains continue and flooding likely worsens over the coming days, there is an urgent need to scale up disease surveillance, restore damaged health facilities, ensure sufficient medicines and health supplies to affected communities.
“Affected people have told our staff on the ground about their traumatic and scarring experiences as rain and floodwaters swept away their possessions in minutes,” said Matthew Saltmarsh, spokesperson for the UN Refugee Agency. “Those who could, rushed to safety on higher ground without being able to rescue their belongings. Shelter, clean drinking water and food are among the most urgently needed items in the aftermath of the flood.”
Torrential monsoon rainfall has caused the Indus River to overflow, submerging land for tens of kilometers wide, according to recent images from the European Space Agency. Crops and livestock have been lost having a significant impact on both livelihood and nutrition of afflicted communities.
“We have a major problem within the region and a particular global challenge in ensuring that the support that is going to be necessary to get agricultural production back up and running in Pakistan, to feed its own people, as well as being the continued source of supply of food for colleagues and brethren next door in Afghanistan,” alerted Chris Kaye, WFP’s Country Director for Pakistan.
Neighboring Afghanistan has also been hard-hit by the flooding which has come as the country struggles to recover from a series of natural disasters. Millions have found refuge in Pakistan over the last 40 years, noted Mr. Matthew Saltmarsh. “Pakistan and its people have hosted millions of Afghan refugees for over four decades, with some 1.3 million registered now in the country, as well of course as large numbers of undocumented Afghans in the country.”
Pakistan, which is already facing political and economic turmoil, has been thrown into the front line of the human-induced climate crisis. The South Asian country of 220 million people faced dramatic weather conditions this year, from record heatwaves to deadly floods.
"South Asia is one of the world's global climate crisis hotspots. People living in these hotspots are 15 times more likely to die from climate impacts," UN Secretary General António Guterres said on 30 August.
Pakistan is home to more glaciers than anywhere outside the polar areas. Global warming makes the country more vulnerable to sudden outbursts of melting glacier water, according to the Meteorological Department in Islamabad.
Ends
- Medium shot, UN Geneva flag alley.
- Medium shot, press room with panel of speakers.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Palitha MAHIPALA, WHO Representative in Pakistan: “Affected population is 33 million, 15 per cent of the total population in Pakistan. 6.4-plus million people are in dire need of humanitarian aid.”
- Medium shot, journalists taking notes.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Abdullah Fadil, UNICEF Representative in Pakistan: “18,000 schools have been destroyed and thousands of schools are now fully shuttered. So that means children who have lost education for two years are also losing learning opportunities now.”
- Medium shot of participants.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Abdullah Fadil, UNICEF Representative in Pakistan: “This country which had a higher level of stunting, already the same areas that are impacted, are the same areas that are now flooded. The anticipation list with waterborne diseases - diarrhea, cholera, all the diseases you can imagine - will hit, and quite soon, so we need to be in place to respond to those as well.”
- Medium shot, press room with journalists.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Matthew Saltmarsh, Spokesperson for UNHCR: “Affected people have told our staff on the ground about their traumatic and scarring experiences as rain and floodwaters swept away their possessions in minutes. Those who could, rushed to safety on higher ground without being able to rescue their belongings. Shelter, clean drinking water and food are among the most urgently needed items in the aftermath of the flood.”
- Close up shot, journalists taking notes.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Matthew Saltmarsh, Spokesperson for UNHCR: “Pakistan and its people have hosted millions of Afghan refugees for over four decades, with some 1.3 million registered now in the country, as well of course as large numbers of undocumented Afghans in the country.”
- Close up shot, TV camera viewfinder showing speaker.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Chris Kaye, WFP Country Director for Pakistan: “We have a major problem within the region and a particular global challenge in ensuring that the wherewithal, the support that is going to be necessary to get agricultural production back up and running in Pakistan, to feed its own people, as well as being the continued source of supply of food for colleagues and brethren next door in Afghanistan.”
- Medium shot, journalists taking notes.
- Medium shot, journalists taking notes.
- Close up shot, journalists taking notes.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
Un nouveau rapport du Haut-Commissariat des Nations Unies aux droits de l'homme sur la République démocratique du Congo évoque le spectre de crimes de guerre et de crimes contre l'humanité dans le Nord et le Sud-Kivu.,
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | HRC
A high-level independent rights probe into the Sudan crisis on Tuesday condemned the many grave crimes committed against civilians by all parties to the war, citing disturbing evidence indicating that they had been “deliberately targeted, displaced and starved”.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Ukraine: ‘Relentless’ attacks rattle health system as winter approaches: WHO
Ambulances attacked, chronically ill patients lacking care and no peace in sight: for millions of Ukrainians, the run-up to another winter of war is just the latest life-or-death challenge they face, the UN health agency (WHO) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday delivered his report on Sri Lanka to the 60th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday delivered his global update to the 60th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
A UN report on the Democratic Republic of Congo raises specter of war crimes and crimes against humanity in North and South Kivu, according to UN Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani.
1
1
1
Edited News | WMO
As billions of people continue to breathe polluted air that causes more than 4.5 million premature deaths every year, UN climate experts on Friday highlighted how damaging microscopic smoke particles from wildfires play their part, travelling half-way across the world.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence made the following comment on the on-going presidential election process in Cameroon at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
The UN Human Rights Office released a new report on Myanmar, describing death, destruction and desperation which reflect atrocities committed in 2017.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , IFRC , UNHCR
Afghanistan: Humanitarians scramble to reach survivors of deadly quake; response at ‘breaking point’
In remote eastern Afghanistan, aid workers are racing to assist survivors of Sunday’s devastating earthquake as the death toll continues to climb, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA
The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, repeated his urgent call for a ceasefire in Gaza on Friday, amid increased military Israeli activity in the enclave’s largest city.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , WHO
Amid reports of increased Israeli military operations across Gaza City on Friday, UN aid agencies repeated urgent warnings of ongoing famine and a likely rise in preventable disease, linked to the dire living conditions in the war-shattered enclave.