Pakistan flood victims face hard winter

Four months have passed since floods submerged one-fifth of Pakistan’s land area, killing 2,000 people and affecting over 20 million more. Now, many families have left refugee camps to return to their homes, only to find total destruction of their property and crops.

The onslaught of winter is compounding the hardships faced by millions of Pakistan’s flood victims, and aid groups are struggling to prepare them the dropping temperatures.

“With 20 million people affected, resources are still scarce,” says Oscar Butragueño, Emergency Coordinator for the UN Children’s Fund in Pakistan.

As snow begins to fall in the north, the season will worsen the threat of respiratory infections and malnutrition – the biggest killers of Pakistani children.

Butragueño says new cases of polio are also being reported.

“Last year we had 89 cases,” he told Vatican Radio. “Unfortunately this year we already have 125.”

Listen to Oscar Butragueño’s full interview with Kelsea Brennan-Wessels: