Pakistan: Situation in south becomes critical
World Vision is continuing to step up efforts to help families in Pakistan after vast floods spread south through the country.
The Indus River – which runs through Sindh and is fed by five rivers from the flooded north – is now swollen following heavy monsoon rains, which continued until the end of last week.
Mass evacuations have been taking place and flood water has damaged more than 173,000 homes in Sindh, affecting more than one million people, according to Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority.
World Vision is preparing resources to respond in Sindh as soon as the immediate danger posed by the flood passes.
“The scale of the response needed by all humanitarian actors is almost incomprehensible,” said World Vision’s Anita Cole.
Families
World Vision is planning to provide aid to 280,000 people in Pakistan, including 140,000 in Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa Province (KPK), where the organisation was working prior to the floods. The charity will also assist 70,000 people in both Sindh and Punjab.
The organisation has delivered food and water to more than 21,000 people living in school buildings and on roadsides in Charsadda and Nowshera.
Distributions of shelter kits, cooking implements and gas cylinders began last week in Pashtun Garhi in KPK. Distributions of further floor mats, bedding and food kits containing flour, sugar, rice, beans, tea, dates and oil to families in Charsadda, Nowshera and Peshawar will begin within days.
World Vision also plans to distribute water purification packets and hygiene kits to 150,000 people, tents to 22,500, cooking items to 75,000, and food to at least 37,500.
Clinics
The organisation has opened five emergency health clinics in Lower Dir and so far has treated more than 1,100 people who are suffering from water-borne diseases and other flood-related illnesses.
World Vision also aims to provide cash-for-work activities to 1,000 people, open seven health posts, set up 20 child-friendly spaces and 20 women-friendly spaces to provide a safe and comfortable environment for children and women to interact with peers and receive support.