Unicef provides emergency relief as 1.6mn children stranded in Bangladesh flood

Four million people, including 1.6 million children, stranded by flash floods in north-eastern Bangladesh are in urgent need of help, Unicef has said.

Unicef is on the ground to deliver emergency water and health supplies, it said in a press release issued yesterday (June 20, 2022).

Unicef is urgently seeking $2.5 million in funding for the emergency response as it provides life-saving supplies and services to children and families, the release said.

"Children need safe drinking water right now. Preventing deadly waterborne diseases is one of several critical concerns," said Sheldon Yett, Unicef Representative to Bangladesh.

"Our heart goes out for the children whose lives have been lost. Children are the most vulnerable in this desperate situation. Unicef is working around the clock with authorities and our partners to meet the immediate needs of children," he also said.

Unicef has already dispatched 400,000 water purification tablets that can support 80,000 households with clean water for a week. Unicef is working to further support the Government of Bangladesh's emergency response with millions of water purification tablets, more than 10,000 water containers known as jerry cans, and thousands of hygiene kits for women and adolescent girls. Unicef is also procuring emergency medicines supplies for district health facilities.

In Sylhet division, 90 percent of health facilities have been inundated, while cases of waterborne diseases continue to rise. Children are at heightened risk of drowning, already one of the major causes of child deaths in the country, according to the release.