Ali Rehman Malik urges people to help flood affected people

Abdullah Jan

Islamabad: Former Interior Minister Rehman Malik’s son Ali Rehman Malik this week urged the people to help the flood affected people.

“Please keep these souls in mind and give freely to a charity of your choice. Any help, no matter how big or small will go towards bringing some basic necessities to those affected,” he tweeted.

The crisis has left families in the flood-affected areas with no choice but to use potentially contaminated water, he added.

Earlier, UNICEF Representative in Pakistan, Abdullah Fadil said: “Safe drinking water is not a privilege, it is a basic human right. Yet, every day, millions of girls and boys in Pakistan are fighting a losing battle against preventable waterborne diseases and the consequential malnutrition.”

UNICEF this week warned that the lack of access to safe drinking water and toilets, as well as the presence of stagnant water, are contributing to “widespread” outbreaks of waterborne diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea, dengue, and malaria.

According to the UN Children’s Fund, beyond being a health hazard, the lack of proper toilets is “disproportionally affecting children, adolescent girls and women who are at added risk of shame and harm when defecating outdoors.”

Unsafe water and poor sanitation are also “key underlying causes” of malnutrition. UNICEF highlights that a third of all child deaths globally are attributable to malnutrition, while half of all undernutrition cases are linked to infections caused by a lack of access to safe water, adequate sanitation and good hygiene.

In Pakistan’s flood-affected areas, more than 1.5 million boys and girls are already severely malnourished, and UNICEF expects these numbers to rise. Malnutrition is associated with half of all child deaths in the country.

Last year’s unprecedented flooding, triggered by severe monsoon rains, submerged a third of Pakistan’s land mass.

According to the UN Office in the country, more than 33 million people were affected overall, or one in seven Pakistanis, and eight million were displaced, causing humanitarian needs to surge.

The UN reported on Tuesday that as of 15 March, humanitarians had reached more than seven million flood-affected Pakistanis with food and other essential services. UNICEF and partners have so far provided safe drinking water to nearly 1.2 million children and families, and supported the rehabilitation of water supply facilities benefitting over 450,000 people.

Speaking at an international conference dedicated to the emergency back in January this year, UN Secretary-General António Guterres stressed that “rebuilding Pakistan in a resilient way” will require “supporting women and children, who are up to 14 times more likely than men to die during disasters, and face the brunt of upheaval and loss in humanitarian crises”.