The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Thursday said it is readying emergency supplies for 10,000 families affected by Super Typhoon Carina and enhanced southwest monsoon or habagat.

UNICEF said children suffer most during any emergency, citing its study that the Philippines has the highest number of children displaced in the last six years from weather-related events at 9.7 million.

About 97 percent of children in the Philippines experience three or more types of shock, hazard, or stress.

“Children in the Philippines should not have to fear for their lives every time a strong typhoon comes. The climate crisis faced by countries like the Philippines is changing the lives of children,” UNICEF Philippines Representative Edgar Donoso Paz.

“Children are robbed of the ability to live happy and healthy lives, threatening their future, and exposing them to harm. While they are vulnerable, children and young people do have an active role to play in reducing risk and working with adults. They bring critical skills, experiences, and creative solutions,” Paz added.

The UN agency also expressed concerns as the new school year on 29 July “may be at risk” with thousands of schools severely affected by massive flooding and some being used as evacuation centers.

Paz said UNICEF is committed and ready to provide support to the Philippine Government to reach the most vulnerable.

He said UNICEF is coordinating and monitoring with partners at the national and local levels as it has already prepositioned emergency supplies for nearly 10,000 families to respond to affected people’s needs for safe drinking water, sanitation, hygiene, nutrition, education, and child protection.

These supplies include schools-in-a-box, family hygiene and dignity kits, tents, water purification tablets, and ready-to-use therapeutic food, among others.