Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif addressed the United Nations General Assembly on September 23, 2022. The catastrophic floods have left one third of his country underwater; destroying crops, orchards, livestock, entire villages, bridges and roads. There is no fresh water, let alone food or dry land in vast areas and millions of children are now at risk of water-borne diseases.
This is a catastrophe that has totally overwhelmed the nation, its effects are felt in every city, village and home.
- “For 40 days and 40 nights, a biblical flood poured down, smashing centuries of weather records, challenging everything we knew about disaster and how to manage it,” Sharif said
“In this ground zero of climate change, 33 million people, including women and children, are now at high risk from health hazards,” he said. Authorities have warned it could take up to six months for the flood waters to recede in the country’s hardest-hit areas, as fears rise over the threat posed by waterborne diseases including cholera and dengue.
The deluge has left 3.4 million children in need of “immediate, lifesaving support,” according to UNICEF, leaving them vulnerable to contracting water-borne diseases, including dengue fever and malaria.
Swaths of the country are “still underwater, submerged in an ocean of human suffering.”
The situation is so overwhelming that it would be easy to concede defeat, but our Rapid Response Teams are eager to assist survivors. We may be few in number, but with your help, we are assisting displaced people.
