JEDDAH: The Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation has announced that it deeply regrets the loss of precious lives and destruction of infrastructure and livelihoods due to ongoing calamitous flooding across Pakistan, Afghanistan and Sudan. The humanitarian situation is expected to worsen as communities and infrastructure will struggle to cope with ongoing heavy rainfall and its devastating aftermath due to imminent food shortages and the spread of waterborne diseases, the commission said. The commission added that it is also distressed by the reports of a prolonged debilitating drought in Somalia, which has caused displacement of around 1 million people and exposed 7 million to imminent hunger, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis. The commission highlighted that, in recent decades, climate change and environmental degradation has adversely affected millions of people and ecosystems, natural resources and infrastructure upon which they depend. Several OIC member states are highly vulnerable to environmental changes. The IPHRC said that the situation is particularly alarming in low-income developing countries, where it could represent an existential threat for many communities who are at the forefront of experiencing severe impacts of climate change. The commission said that the mitigation of climate change effects and urgent protection of vulnerable communities is crucial to ensuring fundamental rights to life, health, food and an adequate standard of living in the affected areas.