The country’s National Disaster Management Authority reported that the cumulative number of deaths since June 14 rose to 1,282 on Saturday, and about a third of the casualties were children. On Saturday alone, there were 57 more deaths, 25 of them children.
Aid agencies warn that the country’s problems are far from over – and that as the disaster continues to unfold, children will be among the most vulnerable.
The flood – caused by a combination of record monsoon rains and melting glaciers in Pakistan’s northern mountains – has been described as the worst the country has ever seen.
At one point, more than a third of the country was under water, according to satellite images from the European Space Agency, and the government and aid organizations say 33 million people have been affected.
Among them, more than three million children are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance due to the risks of waterborne diseases, drowning and malnutrition, according to UNICEF. UNICEF says the floods have destroyed or destroyed 17,566 schools across the country, further jeopardizing children’s education after two years of Covid-related closures.
And aid agencies say that even if the floods recede, the country faces a long road to recovery.
“Survivors must start from scratch,” said Aurelie Gaudette, a spokeswoman for Médecins du Monde, a humanitarian aid organization that has been working in Pakistan since 1966.
This will not be over in a couple of 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.
Calling on the international community for help, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif estimated last week that the disaster had caused more than $10 billion in damage to infrastructure, homes and farms.
Reuters reported that a high-level body set up to coordinate relief efforts met on Saturday in Islamabad for the first time. The day before, the country’s largest charity, the Edhi Foundation, urged the government to lift the years-old ban on a number of international NGOs so they can help with relief efforts, Reuters reported.
Jan Kamensind Brumby of CNN and Reuters contributed to this report.
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