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UNICEF Bangladesh Humanitarian Situation Report (Monsoon Floods) - 01 Sept 2017

Countries
Bangladesh
Sources
UNICEF
Publication date

01 September 2017

2,553,000
# of children in need of humanitarian assistance

6,900,000
# of people in need (HCTT Response Plan)

UNICEF Appeal 2017
US$ 4.8 million

Highlights

  • More than six million people are affected by the flooding in northern and central Bangladesh that claimed over 100 lives.

  • On 30 August, the Humanitarian country team met with the Government and launched a Humanitarian Response Plan targeting 330,000 people in six most affected districts.

  • With UNICEF support, the government is responding to approximately 1.5 million flood-affected population by raising, repairing and disinfecting 40,000 tube-wells; as well as providing 1 million water purification tablets, 837 hygiene kits, 6,400 jerry cans and 5,080 kg of bleaching powder.

  • With district education authorities, UNICEF is preparing to provide emergency education services in a protective environment to an initial 6,000 children immediately after water level goes down.

Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs

Since 12 August 2017, heavy monsoon rains have caused intense flooding across more than one-third of Bangladesh. The Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief (MoDMR) reported that the floods are the worst in the last four decades.
The Bangladesh Meteorological Department’s latest bulletin warns that further heavy rainfall is expected to continue.

As of 27 August 2017, the Government of Bangladesh reports that the floods have affected 31 districts in the northern, north eastern, and central parts of the country due to the overflowing of the BrahmaputraJamuna River, affecting more than six million people. It is feared that the central region of the country will be increasingly affected as waters move towards the Bay of Bengal. Nearly 100 metres of a dam in Manikganj has already been washed away, and the lower part of the capital city,
Dhaka, is predicted to be flooded in the coming days.

An estimated 524,375 houses are reported to have been partially damaged and 77,272 are believed to have been destroyed by the floods. Some 703 shelters in flood-affected areas are sheltering more than 197,000 people. According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), a total of 13,035 cases of water-borne diseases have been linked to the extensive flooding, including Acute Watery Diarrhoea (AWD), skin diseases, acute respiratory infections, and eye infections. 703 schools have been turned into temporary shelters by the local administration. Moreover, a total of 2,292 primary and community schools have been affected by the floods.2 Primary data from 19 districts shows that 54,345 tube wells have been partially or fully damaged, and 184,791 household latrines have been inundated or damaged or flashed away.3 An estimated 4,680,000 hectares of cultivated land has been damaged. Access to affected areas is challenging, as around 1,214 km of roads, 100 bridges and culverts, and 15 km of rail tracks between Dinajpur and Dhaka are damaged.

Affected children and their families are in urgent need of shelter, food, safe drinking water and sanitation as well as protection. Children are at risk of injury, exploitation and abuse as there is no safe place in the temporary shelters or roads, and parents are occupied with flood response. In addition, 50 per cent of females, in particular, in government shelters indicated that they were not feeling safe; particularly while using latrines and places for bathing. Children are out of school and it is not clear at this stage when they will resume schooling.