LATEST UPDATE
More than eight million people in 47 districts of Bangladesh have now been affected by the floods and 120 have died in 12 days of country-wide flooding according to official figures released on Sunday evening. The central part of the country, including Dhaka, is currently facing greater intensity of flooding while water has receded in some places in the northern parts or the situation remained unchanged in some others in the northern and northeastern regions that were the worst hit last week. A large part of Eastern Dhaka city has been submerged where rickshaws and people are seen wading through knee to waist high water. According to Bangladesh Meteorological Department, the flood situation in the central parts including Dhaka will deteriorate in the next 3 to 4 days. Twenty six rivers in the country, especially those in Dhaka and surrounding districts, are flowing above danger levels. The flood waters are heading south and towards low-lying central areas. Crops of over 1.2 million acres of lands have been damaged according to the Flood Control Room reports. Diarrhea, cholera and skin diseases are reported to be spreading fast in many districts. Incidents of looting of 650 packets of relief materials have been reported from Bogra.
NATIONAL RESPONSE
Until Sunday, the government had opened 1,175 shelters that accommodated 282,000 people and allocated 14,200 metric tons of GR (gracious relief) rice, Taka 28 million in GR cash, Tk. 22.5 million as housing grants, Tk 10 million for dry food and Tk 7 million for rescue and relief operations ($1 = Taka 69 approx). Media reports from different districts indicate rising crises due to inadequate relief materials leaving thousands of people without essential relief, dugs and drinking water. In a briefing from the office of the Chief Adviser (CA) to the Caretaker Government Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed on Sunday afternoon, Adviser of Food and Disaster Management Tapan Chowdhury and the Adviser for Law and Information Barrister Mainul Hossain stated that the government does not intend to declare a national disaster or seek external assistance. The government feels in control of the flood situation and is confident of its capacity in responding to the flood situation. The Law and Information Adviser also added that the Government did not want to create panic or uncertainty by declaring a national disaster.
UNICEF Response
The approximate number of the population receiving emergency assistance from UNICEF through different supply and programme interventions are as follows:
Programme | Number of people reached |
| Water & Environmental Sanitation | 1,278,000 |
| Health | 200,000 |
| Nutrition | 21,460 (BP5 biscuits for 10,836 children, 3-6 years
old and 10,624 pregnant women and lactating mothers |
| Education | 36,000 (children at three age groups |
 | (3-5=12,000; 6-10= 14,000 and 10-14=10,000) |
| Field Operation | 115,000 people (plastic sheets and family kits) |
| Total population covered so far | 1,650,460 people |
UNICEF has released or is releasing pre-positioned emergency materials worth $ 1.8 million. With cash assistance to requesting governmental ministries, fresh procurement and replenishment the total UNICEF support so far planned would amount to $ 3.2 million. The UNICEF Emergency Task Force made a total assessment of the sectoral and overall response to the floods. Immediate release of 22,000 plastic sheets and 1,000 pre-positioned family kits containing everyday essentials such as utensils and clothing are going to be distributed in Sirajgonj, Kurigram, Jamalpur and Tangail district through three pre-qualified NGOs. Distribution of family kits will be coordinated with IFRC (International Federation of Red Crescent Society). The organization will also distribute additional family kits in affected districts. UNICEF Supply section initiated local procurement of 10,000 family kits and 25,000 plastic sheets. UNICEF will continue to respond to the requests received from counterpart ministries and departments such as Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) and will work with relevant NGOs for different purposes and locations from a list of 37 pre-qualified NGOs. Emergency preparedness and capacity building of the Government counterparts following the 2004 floods as well as strengthening the capacity of the UNICEF Bangladesh Country Office have proved to be very useful in launching immediate response to the current flood situation. The supply and logistics support to the government, pre-positioning of essential items and identifying and streamlining partnership with 37 pre-qualified NGOs have allowed an urgent and immediate response.
The office is closely monitoring the situation in terms of number of affected people.
Health & Nutrition
UNICEF has responded to a request from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) by releasing 40,000 IV saline and other essential drugs that were pre-positioned as part of emergency preparedness and response planning. Additionally, 160,000 IV saline will be released later in the week. 400,000 fresh IV saline will be procured by UNICEF to replenish stock and for further assistance to the MOHFW to meet post-flood health needs. About 3 million sachets of ORS are available in the district and upazilla health facilities. UNICEF is currently meeting 60 per cent of the Ministry’s request for essential drugs, while the rest will be procured and distributed on a needs basis.
WFP, together with UNICEF is about to distribute 127 tons of BP5 and High Energy Biscuits (HEB) worth $ 120,000 targeted to 212,000 people in five of the worst affected districts. The BP5 biscuits are for children (6 to 35 months), pregnant and lactating mothers while HEB is to be given to older and general population. The HEB are not only a rich source of calories and energy, they can provide at least 50 per cent of the adult recommended daily requirement of essential vitamins and minerals. Ninety metric tons of BP5 biscuits were pre-positioned by UNICEF, out of which 63.74 MT is now being released in collaboration with WFP, through pre-qualified NGOs. WFP has already started transportation of the nutritious biscuits for distribution in Kurigram, Gaibandha, Sirajgonj, Jamalpur and Manikgonj.
Water and Environmental Sanitation
The WES section is in the process of responding to the request letter from the Chief Engineer of DPHE (Department of Public Health Engineering) for cash assistance of approximately $55,000 for mobilizing materials and personnel. DPHE also seeks to use the cash support for labor, construction and installation costs for temporary water source and latrine facilities, as well as procurement of 10,000 jerry cans and 10 metric tons of bleaching powder.
Education / Child Protection
The Education Section is in the process of releasing 480 pre-positioned educational kits for under-5 children. The Child Protection Section is releasing 5,300 pre-positioned recreational kits under psychosocial support for three age groups of children. The kits are being distributed in flood affected districts through 20 pre-qualified NGOs and are expected to reach 30,000 children through a community-based support system.
In addition to pre-positioning the kits, UNICEF trained 1,000 officials from 20 NGOs and 2,000 adolescent peer educators in flood-prone districts in the community-based utilization of the recreational kits. The recreational kits were pre-positioned in local schools in many districts that are now affected by the floods. They are at the disposal of the NGOs and the communities – who are ready to utilize the kits as soon as needed – particularly when the water starts to recede.
