Flood victims need life-saving support: UN
ISLAMABAD: THE number of people in need of help in flood-hit areas is much higher than what has been reported, the United Nations has said.
The rapid needs assessment carried out by the government, the UN and hum-anitarian partners revealed that many more people are in need of life-saving support services in the atermath of the catastrophic floods.
Meanwhile, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned that acute food insecurity is likely to worsen in parts of Pakistan due to the negative impact of floods and extremely high prices of basic food items, energy and fuel.
The revised “Pakistan Floods Response Plan 2022” will be launched in Geneva. The assessment, ranging from $600m to $800m, will focus on life-saving support for immediate and urgent needs, UN Resident Coordinator Julien Harneis, alongside representatives from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Unicef, told reporters.
Harneis said $90m had been received within one month of the $160m flash appeal to provide immediate relief to flood victims.
“Food is being delivered to the vulnerable families but it is still not enough to meet the nutrition needs of people,” he said.
According to the data, the number of damaged and destroyed houses has exceeded 2 million as of Sept.23.
More than 5,000 schools are currently being used to host displaced populations, while an estimated 23,900 schools have been damaged, data revealed.
WHO Representative in Pakistan, Dr Palitha Mahipala said more than 2,000 health facilities have been damaged or destroyed, causing a public health emergency.
Unicef Deputy Representative in Pakistan Dr Inoussa Kabore said that 2.3m people have no access to safe drinking water and almost 3m are using polluted water for drinking.
Meanwhile, as per a Unicef report, the data collected so far showed that at least 25,993 schools have been damaged or destroyed in the four provinces.
In the meantime, international food and agricultural assistance is urgently needed to avoid deterioration of the local food security situation, according to a Special Alert of Global Information and Early Warning System on Food and Agriculture report issued by the FAO.