More than six million children in South Asia are at risk following severe torrential rains, flash floods, and landslides that have devastated the region, leaving many homeless, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Monday.
“We are only halfway through the monsoon season, yet the rainfall, damage and destruction have been devastating,” Sanjay Wijesekera, UNICEF Regional Director for South Asia, said in a news release.
In Nepal, 109 people, including children, have died due to floods and landslides this monsoon season. This includes 65 people who were on two buses pushed into a swollen river by landslides in July.
Similarly, in Afghanistan, flash floods last week swept away several hundred homes, claiming at least 58 lives and leaving hundreds of families homeless, further exacerbating existing vulnerabilities.
“These erratic weather events, worsened by climate change, are severely impacting children across South Asia,” Mr. Wijesekera said.
“UNICEF is concerned about predictions of heavier rain in the coming weeks, which could further jeopardize children.”
He also noted that Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan are among the countries where children are at an elevated risk of the impacts of the climate crisis, citing the agency’s Children’s Climate Risk Index.