UNICEF East Asia and Pacific’s Post

Floods in Rantau Panjang, Malaysia, affect over 70,000 people annually—nearly 40% of them children. Salidah Ramli’s family has faced rising waters, crowded shelters without electricity or clean water, and disrupted schooling. 🌊 Salidah remembers clutching her children tightly, terrified they might be swept away. “The floods rise so suddenly,” she says. “Even when they subside, they come back again.” Her eldest, Haris, has taken matters into his own hands—raising his school books to higher shelves every time the flood comes. For him, protecting his education is as instinctive as seeking safety. Across Southeast Asia, climate change is displacing families, and children bear the heaviest burden. Stories like Salidah and Haris’s remind us why climate-resilient infrastructure, emergency preparedness, and child-focused interventions are urgently needed. UNICEF Malaysia