Supplies in a Climate Emergency

Around the world, climate-related disasters such as droughts, floods, wildfires, hurricanes and typhoons, are upending the lives of millions of children and communities. 

The devastating floods that hit Pakistan in August 2022, killing more than 1,700 people and affecting more than 33 million, are widely recognized as having been driven and exacerbated by climate change. Half of those affected are children, including at least 3.4 million in need of life-saving support. In the immediate aftermath, the UNICEF country office in Pakistan was able to respond with the dispatch of pre-positioned emergency supplies such as anti-malarial medicines and therapeutic nutritional supplements. 

More than four months later, up to 4 million children are still living near contaminated and stagnant flood waters, risking their survival and wellbeing. In high-altitude areas also affected by the floods, snow has fallen, and temperatures have dropped below zero degrees Celsius.  

UNICEF and partners have been providing items such as warm clothing kits, jackets, blankets and quilts, aiming to reach nearly 200,000 children, women and men. More than one million people have been provided with access to safe drinking water, and one million with hygiene kits. In the months ahead, UNICEF will continue to respond to urgent humanitarian needs, while also restoring and rehabilitating existing health, water, sanitation and education facilities for families returning home. 

Last week’s International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan, co-hosted by the Government of Pakistan and the United Nations brought together Governments, leaders from the public and private sectors and civil society to look forward after this catastrophic event and consider how to build back in a climate-resilient and inclusive manner and to forge long-term partnerships. The conference raised $9 million: an excellent example of solidarity in action.  

The climate crisis is a child rights crisis and UNICEF remains committed to each and every child and the protection of their rights, including access to life-saving supplies. Our country offices are our presence on the ground and are able to provide a first wave of response to climate events. Here in UNICEF Supply Division we stand ready to support them. 

For example, after Typhoon Rai swept through 11 of the Philippines’ 17 regions, thousands of families were left without shelter, food, safe water, and livelihoods. In one community in Siargao Island, the local school was destroyed. Thanks to UNICEF tents used as temporary classrooms, the schoolchildren are now back in school.  

Temporary Learning Spaces are only one of the ways tents have been used, as part of the emergency response. In the town of San Benito, a UNICEF tent is being used as a Child Friendly Space (CFS), providing a safe haven for traumatized children. The CFS plays a vital role of helping children get back to playing, interacting and sharing, to show them there is still hope. 

Hope drives all of us forward as we strive to create a brighter, better world for the world’s children and to reinforce global solidarity for the most vulnerable. 

Best,

Eva