The authorities told the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) that the monsoon rains have killed an estimated 80 people, injured 36 others and displaced more than 81,000 so far.

The rains have also ravaged thousands of acres of standing crops and caused huge damage to houses and infrastructure, OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke told reporters in Geneva, adding that further monsoon rains are forecast for later this month.

“Pakistani authorities continue rescue and relief activities in affected areas, particularly Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh provinces,” said Mr. Laerke. “They have not requested international assistance at this stage. OCHA and humanitarian partners are closely monitoring the situation and stand ready to assist if required.”

The UN World Health Organization (WHO) will provide emergency health and diarrhoeal disease kits, water purification tablets and malaria medicine for 5,000 people. Other humanitarian agencies have also offered their support and stand ready to assist.

Meanwhile, UN agencies and partners are working with local authorities to reach people with live-saving aid in neighbouring Afghanistan, where flash floods have affected at least 13 villages in Kabul province in the last few days and dozens of people have reportedly died.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) will provide two months of food rations, while the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is working with the partner agency International Organization for Migration to provide water and sanitation support.

“UN and humanitarian partners are ready to provide food, basic household items, water, sanitation and emergency health support if required,” Mr. Laerke stated.

Widespread flooding has occurred, swamping tents and overwhelming the drainage system in the Za’atari camp, with deep mud making it harder to drain the water and for water-removal trucks to access the camp, UNICEF noted in a news release.

Areas containing several so-called child friendly spaces – where children can play, learn and receive psychosocial support – have been flooded, and a tent used to shelter unaccompanied minors has collapsed.

“The next 72 hours will be a critical test of our ability to meet the basic needs of children and their families at Za’atari,” said the UNICEF Representative in Jordan, Dominique Hyde. “Alongside the Government of Jordan and our other partners, we are doing everything possible to ensure services are maintained and that children stay warm and dry.”

The deteriorating situation at the Za’atari camp comes amid a continuing influx of refugees from across the border, fleeing the violence in Syria, where more than 60,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in early 2011.

Recent months have witnessed an escalation in the conflict, which is now in its 23rd month. Since the beginning of January this year, close to 10,000 Syrians have sought safety in Jordan.

Mr. Hyde added that a lack of funding was a major constraint on relief activities.

“The resources we raised in 2012 have been exhausted, and no fresh funds have come for this year,” he said. “We urgently appeal to the international community and donors in general to commit fresh funding as soon as possible.”

UNICEF stated that it and its partners are working “around the clock” to sustain the provision of services to people in Za’atari camp, and in particular, to ensure that all refugees have access to water, latrines and showers.

The UN agency has distributed emergency warm clothing along with sleeping mats to replace mattresses soaked by the rain. Heaters have been distributed to families now living in prefabricated buildings within the camp.

In relation to funding for relief activities, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will chair a high-level conference later this month to raise funds to alleviate the worsening plight of millions of Syrians affected by the ongoing conflict.

The conference, to be held on 30 January in Kuwait, follows a $1.5 billion appealed launched in December by the United Nations and its partners, who have been hampered in their efforts to carry out relief activities due to lack of funds.

The bulk of the appeal – $1 billion – is to support refugees fleeing Syria to Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey and Egypt. It is based on planning estimates that up to a million Syrian refugees will need help during the first half of 2013.

Another $519 million will be needed to support an estimated four million people inside Syria who need urgent humanitarian assistance, including an estimated two million internally displaced persons.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than two million people have been driven from their homes by rising waters of the Niger, the West African country’s main river.

“The response plan… targets 2.1 million people who are in need of assistance in a number of humanitarian sectors, such as water and sanitation, food shelter material, and non-food items, such as mosquito nets and kitchen sets,” an OCHA spokesperson, Jens Laerke, said of the needs, in an interview with UN Radio.

On Monday, Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency said that the 2.1 million had been officially registered as internally displaced persons (IDPs), while the flooding had killed 363 people in the country since July.

Though seasonal rains typically cause flooding in Nigeria, they have been heavier than usual across West Africa and adjacent regions this year, according to media reports. The resulting flash flooding and overtopped rivers have inundated vast areas.

In Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country with a population of more than 160 million, huge numbers of people also live in the country’s flood plains, many in haphazardly constructed slum-like homes that have been no match for the rising waters, the media reports add.

“The majority of those displaced are living with host communities; some are in camp-like settlements,” said Mr. Laerke. “Many are in public buildings such as schools.”

Many of the flood-affected people had been “robbed of their livelihoods,” Mr. Laerke added, since they were mainly from riverside farming and fishing communities. “They have seen either their farmlands completely inundated, (or had) their fishing equipment (and) nets washed away.”

He also warned that the destruction of farmlands and fishing areas could provoke food shortages, while OCHA noted there was a “high risk” of an outbreak of a flood-related epidemic, with people having very limited access to clean water and sanitation.

Most displaced people were getting their drinking water from ponds, streams and unprotected wells, according to a survey conducted by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).