Aid agencies have warned that Pakistan needs long-term help as the death toll from its catastrophic floods continues to rise.
The cumulative death toll since June 14 rose to 1,282 on Saturday, the country’s National Disaster Management Authority said, and nearly a third of the victims are children. On Saturday alone there were 57 more deaths, 25 of them children.
Aid agencies warn that the country’s troubles are far from over – and that as the disaster continues to unfold, children will be among the most vulnerable.
The flood – the result of a combination of record monsoon rains and melting glaciers in the mountains of northern Pakistan – has been described as the worst the country has ever seen.
At one point, more than a third of the country was underwater, according to satellite images from the European Space Agency, and government and aid organizations say 33 million people were affected.
Among them, more than three million children are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance due to the risk of water-borne diseases, drowning and malnutrition, according to UNICEF.
The floods also damaged or destroyed 17,566 schools across the country, UNICEF says, further compromising children’s education after two years of Covid-related closures.
Aid agencies say that even if the floods subside, the country faces a long road to recovery.
“Survivors must start from scratch,” said Aurelie Godet, a spokeswoman for Medecins du Monde, a relief organization that has worked in Pakistan since 1966.
“This is not going to end in two months, they need long-term help.”
The two most affected provinces are Balochistan and Sindh in southern Pakistan, where infrastructure and water systems have been damaged.
Asking for help from the international community, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif estimated last week that the calamity had caused more than $10 billion in damage to infrastructure, homes and farms.
A National Flood Coordination and Response Center was created and the World Health Organization (WHO) released $10 million to treat the injured, deliver supplies to health facilities and prevent the spread of infectious diseases. China and the UK have also pledged millions in aid to the country.
More than 1 million homes were damaged or destroyed, while at least 5,000 kilometers of roads were damaged, according to the disaster management authority.
On Saturday, a high-level body created to coordinate the relief effort met in Islamabad for the first time, Reuters reported.
A day earlier, the country’s biggest charity, the Edhi Foundation, urged the government to lift a years-old ban on several international non-governmental organizations so they could help with relief efforts, Reuters reported.
CNN’s Jan Camenzind Broomby and Reuters contributed reporting.
Source: CNN Brasil
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