ISLAMABAD:World Food Program (WFP) continued its emergency operations for Pakistani families devastated by recent flash floods in the country.
Life-saving food and nutrition assistance and recovery and resilience-building support were being rolled out, with an aim to reach 2.7 million people who were facing emergency level food insecurity (IPC-4) and need urgent humanitarian aid, said a press release issued here on Monday.
WFP is also increasing its logistical support to the Government of Pakistan.
Nearly eight million people were still reportedly displaced, 644,000 of them were in relief camps. The flood water had receded in some areas, but scores of communities still remain cut off, creating challenges for the delivery of aid. There had been an outbreak of waterborne diseases, with 4.4 million cases of cholera, dengue and malaria reported nationwide, turning the flood emergency into a health crisis. Some 600,000 pregnant women in flood-affected areas had no safe place to deliver babies, while 5 million children do not have immunization and nutrition care, the press release added.
The floods had exacerbated previously high levels of food insecurity and malnutrition for millions of people. The latest WFP and FAO assessment indicates that the number of people requiring emergency food assistance will increase from the pre-flood estimated 7.2 million to a staggering 14.6 million from December through March 2023.