3.5 million children lack drinking water as a result of floods in northeast Bangladesh

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) announced on Friday that 3.5 million children in Bangladesh do not have access to drinking water following the recent floods that devastated the country. According to UNICEF, a budget of $2.5 million is required to conduct its operation to secure drinking water in Bangladesh, an amount that is urgently needed.

Seasonal storms in Bangladesh and India have claimed dozens of lives and caused flooding that left millions in need of aid. Large areas of northeastern Bangladesh were inundated last week and the army was deployed to help with the evacuations. "The situation caused by flash floods in northeastern Bangladesh has rapidly deteriorated over the past week," UNICEF Representative in Bangladesh Sheldon Yate told reporters in Geneva via video link.

Yate stated that “3.5 million children urgently need clean drinking water. It’s amazing,” he argued since there are two million more children than just a few days ago. According to the representative, “This is a huge number of children, this is a huge increase in the past two days,” and added that “Vast areas are completely submerged and cut off from safe water and food supplies. These children need help now.”

The UNICEF representative made a clear argument that the problem extends to health concerns and not just wellbeing. He argued that disease can spread quickly when people are forced to drink contaminated water leaving millions of people, not just children, at a very high risk of sickness.

Floating lives. 💔
These little angels are floating on a bamboo raft looking for a place to stay as their home was washed away by the floods in Sylhet.
Children in Bangladesh are not responsible for climate change, but they are paying the highest price for it. pic.twitter.com/fwuVYF7HCa
— UNICEF Bangladesh (@UNICEFBD) June 24, 2022

According to Yate, approximately 50,000 latrines and more than 40,000 water points have been spoiled, and cases of diarrhea and other fatal diseases are continuously increasing. He said, “Nearly half a million people have been evacuated to reception centers that are overcrowded and ill-equipped to meet the needs of women, girls, and children.”

90% of medical facilities around Sylhet, the flood-stricken capital of northeast Bangladesh, are overwhelmed. Similarly, 5,000 schools and education centers are also inundated as a result of the floods. They have become shelters for the evacuated residents from villages that have been entirely submerged due to the heavy floods.

🎥 This is a village in Sylhet in northeast Bangladesh.
Children are reeling from disastrous floods across the region.
They need protection, now. pic.twitter.com/RbUCWwoczb
— UNICEF Bangladesh (@UNICEFBD) June 23, 2022

According to the UN, floods have always threatened Bangladesh as it is a country at a lower elevation, however, the climate crisis has made these natural disasters increasingly more frequent and much less predictable, thus threatening millions of people across the region.

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