Pakistan flood

Buildings are submerged under flood waters in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the province worst hit by the disaster. Energy stations, hospitals, communications networks, water and sanitation systems, schools and other public infrastructure have been damaged, and tens of thousands of houses demolished. Crops and irrigation systems have also been destroyed, causing severe food shortages and the threat of long-term food insecurity.

A girl sits on a cot at an outdoor camp in Jala Bela Village in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province - formerly known as North-West Frontier Province. Eighty per cent of the village’s homes have been destroyed and stagnant and unsafe water threaten to cause outbreaks of water-borne diseases such as diarrhoea and cholera. Illnesses which are especially deadly to children.

Men collect safe water from a UNICEF-supported tanker truck in Jala Bela Village, in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province. Relief efforts are increasing as floodwaters recede, though damaged roads continue to impede access to many affected areas. UNICEF and partners are providing hygiene and sanitation services, safe drinking water and medical services to over one million people.

A boy carries UNICEF-supplied hygiene kits and buckets in Jala Bela Village, in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province. UNICEF is also repairing wells, administering vaccinations, raising awareness of disease-prevention measures and distributing high-energy biscuits to children.

Eight-year-old Amreen washes dishes in rainwater, in Khwas Koorona Village in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province. A destroyed house stands behind her. Further heavy rain is expected in the coming days, and new flood warnings have been issued in both northern and southern regions of the country.

A girl carries bottled water through a stretch of mud where floodwater has receded, in Khwas Koorona Village in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province. As well as the provision of clean water UNICEF is working to restore tube wells in the affected areas.

A woman and her two children stand in their makeshift shelter, along a roadside in Pabbi Union Council, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province. Their home was destroyed in the flood. UNICEF is supporting Child-Friendly Centres in the affected areas, these help to ensure the well-being of children and women through the provision of psychosocial support and semi-structured learning activities.

A girl stands outside her partially collapsed home in Sheenky Village, in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province. In cases where children have been orphaned or separated from their family UNICEF is supporting suitable alternative care and family tracing whenever possible.

A child sleeps on a bed surrounded by floodwater in his home in Khwas Koorona Village, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province. UNICEF receives no funding from the United Nations or the Disasters Emergency Committee and relies entirely on voluntary contributions. We urgently need your support to help protect the rights of all children in Pakistan.

Pakistan flood emergency

06/08/2010