APPEAL LAUNCHED FOR SOUTH ASIA FLOODS
(3 August 2007)

Save the Children is launching an urgent appeal for children in South Asia who are currently affected by floods. At least 10 million children across Bangladesh, India and Pakistan are at risk. Their homes have been swept away, water supplies have been contaminated and they are exposed to the dangers of water-borne diseases. Across the region more than 23 million people are currently affected - 6.9 million in Bangladesh, 13.7 million in India and 2.5 million in Pakistan.

Save the Children and its local partners are already on the ground in all three countries helping children and their families whose lives have been turned upside down by the flooding. We are appealing for at least £2 million in order to rapidly scale up our emergency response.

* In Bangladesh we have already rescued 5,000 families who had been cut off by the floods and taken them to dry land. We are now scaling up our response to set up safe places for these displaced children to protect them from the dangers of the flood waters.

* In India we are reaching around 3,000 families in West Bengal and Orissa and providing temporary shelter, water purification, health facilities, clothes, and school supplies for children.

* In Pakistan we are helping around 60,000 children who were left homeless by flooding brought by Cyclone Yemyin, which hit in Sindh and Balochistan provinces in July. We will be providing 12,000 families with food, shelter, kitchen equipment and soap, helping to rebuild schools and provide items like paper, slates, chalk, and toys.

Gareth Owen, Save the Children's Director of Emergencies said: "Children whose lives have been turned upside down by flooding in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan urgently need help. We are on the ground now but we need more money to respond to this emergency. Millions of children have been forced from their homes and the lack of shelter, food and clean water combined with exposure to the hot and humid weather puts children in real danger."

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Call our Save the Children Emergency Appeal Line and Donate: 0800 848 148. Visit our Website and Donate: www.savethechildren.org.uk. Donate Items to your local Save the Children Shop: the sale of these items will raise much needed funds for the appeal or donate Your Time: as people begin to donate more items to our shops extra volunteers will be needed within the stores.

WHAT YOUR MONEY CAN BUY

* £10 buys a tarpaulin to provide vital temporary shelter for a family

* £85 could help to set up a health camp, with a doctor providing basic healthcare and medicines, in a flood affected village