ISLAMABAD (AP) — Tens of thousands of children in Afghanistan continue to be affected by persistent flash floods, especially in the north and west, the U.N. children’s agency said Monday.
Unusually heavy seasonal rains have caused extensive damage in several parts of the country, killing hundreds of people and destroying property and crops. The UN Food Agency has warned that many survivors are unable to earn a living.
UNICEF, the UN children’s agency, said the extreme weather had all the hallmarks of a worsening climate crisis, with some of the affected areas experiencing drought last year.
This is reported by the World Food Program exceptionally heavy rainfall killed in Afghanistan more than 300 people and destroyed thousands of homes in May, mainly in the northern province of Baghlan. Survivors have no homes, no land and no source of livelihood, the WFP said.
UNICEF said in a statement on Monday that tens of thousands of children continue to be affected by persistent flooding.
“The international community must redouble efforts and investments to support communities in mitigating and adapting to the impacts of climate change on children,” said Dr. Tajudeen Oyewale, the UNICEF representative in Afghanistan.
At the same time, “UNICEF and the humanitarian community must prepare for a new reality of climate-related disasters,” Oyewale said.
Afghanistan ranks 15th out of 163 countries in the United States Climate risk index for children. This means that not only are climate and environmental shocks and stresses prominent in the country, but children are particularly vulnerable to their effects compared to elsewhere in the world.
Last week, the international charity Save the Children said about this 6.5 million children Afghanistan is expected to face a hunger crisis by 2024.
Nearly three in 10 Afghan children will face crisis or emergency levels of hunger this year as the country feels the immediate impact of floods, the long-term effects of drought and the return of Afghans from neighboring Pakistan and Iran, the group said in a report.
More than 557,000 Afghans have returned from Pakistan since September 2023, after Pakistan began crackdown on foreigners it claims to be in the country illegally, including 1.7 million Afghans.