Ukraine dam disaster: Lack of clean water, spread of disease, major risks
Homes are flooded, forcing many to leave, and access to water, especially clean water, is emerging as a major challenge.
In the tribe interview with UN NewsInternational Organization for Migration (IOM) spokeswoman Olivia Headon, speaking from Kyiv, said the agency, along with other humanitarian partners, is speeding up supplies of clean water to areas receiving migrants, “and also trying to take them to areas in particular. area, on the banks of the Dnipro River.”
Water disease
Some of them There are 17,000 people in the immediate critical area at risk of flooding, but only about 1,000 have left far from the dam, according to IOM, many people prefer to stay close to their homes.
Flooding and lack of clean water are fears of an increase in water-borne diseases, and humanitarian workers say health response will be “significant” in the coming days.
Speaking at an emergency meeting of the Security Council on Tuesday night, the UN Emergency Assistance Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, said that “the magnitude of the disaster” in and around the Kherson region, will only become apparent in the coming days”.
He said it was already clear that it would have “grave and extreme consequences for thousands of people in southern Ukraine, on both sides of the front line, tthrough the loss of homes, food, safe water and lives.”
Thousands of lives are at stake
The collapse of the dam on Tuesday has put thousands of lives at risk, IOM Director-General António Vitorino said, causing “extreme environmental damage and leading to further significant strain on response operations in a country dealing with the humanitarian crisis of it’s more than a year. of war”.
He said public infrastructure “should not be the target. However now, innocent citizens are not only alive in the dead flood zone but they are set to address critical shortages of clean water and essential energy supplies in the coming weeksas the humanitarian situation worsens”.
UNICEF provides aid
United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, told UN News that agency on Wednesday provided approximately 25,000 water bottles, hygiene supplies, and more than 10,000 hydration tablets.
They have also organized teams of skilled aid workers in transit and evacuation sites, to provide psychosocial support to children on transit and to support families.
Damian Rance, Chief of Communications and Representative of UNICEF Ukraine, said that the agency will support the displaced with cash transfers for three months, covering five people per family, for all families of just.
Crimea offers danger
The IOM said the dam breach is also expected to affect water supplies to the Russian territory of Crimea and other parts of Ukraine, as well as posing a threat to the cooling systems of the nearby Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, though The UN atomic energy agency (IAEA) said on Tuesday there was no “immediate threat”.
Initial assessments by IOM – the largest humanitarian organization working in Ukraine – indicate that drinking water and food are critical needs, and in coordination with local authorities, the agency plans to expand water and sanitation support, distribute emergency supplies, support joint ventures and provide health care.
“With the devastation caused by the war and the challenges that arise, we must invest in the recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine. While meeting the urgent needs, we must also keep a sharp focus on the peaceful future of Ukraine, ” Mr. Vitorino said.
A woman is evacuated from the flooded Kherson region after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine.
