Emergency appeal launched
Source: Save the Children - Australia
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South Asian
Floods will hit families for months to come says Save the Children
The aftermath of the current flooding in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan will take its toll on children in the region
for many months, according to Save the Children, which is responding in all three countries.Margaret Douglas, CEO of Save the Children Australia, said “This is the worst flooding
we’ve seen for nearly a decade and it will affect children for months to come. Children are already facing a lack of food and water, and are at risk of disease from dirty flood water and
infections”.Rebuilding their lives will take a long-term effort as the floods have destroyed homes, crops and people’s way of making a living. Children’s education is
suffering as their schools have been destroyed or are being used as shelters for families displaced by the floods. There is a real risk of long-term food shortages because farmers will not be able to
replant crops destroyed in the floods until the waters subside. “This could take months”, Ms Douglas said. She added that weather patterns across the region and the
world seemed to be getting less predictable and more extreme, making it harder for farmers to grow food because crops fail more often in drought and floods. “These are some of the most
disaster-prone communities in the world who are battered by monsoons year after year, leaving them increasingly vulnerable. The weather is increasingly severe and unpredictable, which is a
pattern that fits with the predictions made by climate change experts. If these events are linked to climate change then we can expect to be faced with more natural disasters, which hit the
poorest and most vulnerable the hardest”, Ms Douglas said.Save the Children has launched an urgent appeal for children in South Asia who are affected by the floods. To donate,
please phone 1800 76 00 11 or visit www.savethechildren.org.auSave the Children is already responding on the ground. Staff and
local partners have been providing shelter, clean water, healthcare hygiene equipment and school supplies for more than 15,000 families across Pakistan, Bangladesh and India.For more
information contact: Sharyn Hanly 0418 560 810 or Abdi Noor 0408 508 875Related links
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