In Pakistan, a third of the country is affected by floods; we are sending €100,000 in aid
Published: Sep 8, 2022 Reading time: 3 minutes
Since July, Pakistan has been plagued by its worst floods in 10 years. This humanitarian catastrophe has displaced more than 100,000 people. At least 1,300 people, including 458 children, have died due to the floods, and it is already clear that the death toll will rise. We have provided our Alliance2015 partner organisation Cesvi with €100,000. These funds come from the humanitarian fund of our Club of Friends and will provide immediate aid to people affected by the floods. The most vulnerable will receive hygiene kits, water purification tablets, and mosquito nets.
Incessant rain and the subsequent flooding have brought devastation to areas that had previously escaped flooding. This year, 190 per cent more rain has fallen in Pakistan than in previous years. The humanitarian situation will likely worsen as rain and storms continue. Torrential rains have damaged infrastructure and caused landslides, with two thousand kilometres of road and track destroyed in recent weeks. According to OCHA, the number of damaged houses has doubled in the last week alone.
The floods have affected 33 million people. As of 27 August, an estimated 6.7 million people needed assistance in Pakistan. As the rains continue, it is clear that the needs of the people of Pakistan will increase as one-third of the country is already flooded.
We have responded to previous floods in the country in 2010 and 2011; we helped to repair 6,500 homes with the help of partner organisations; we assisted in the areas of water, sanitation, agriculture and economic recovery, and reached more than 100,000 people then.
The biggest problem is food, water, and housing
Twelve years later, Pakistanis are once again struggling primarily with the loss of their homes and livelihoods, often without access to potable water. Two million acres of crops and orchards have also been destroyed.
CESVI will use our donation primarily to provide hygiene kits to people in the affected areas. The packages will include soaps, toothbrushes, feminine hygiene products, water cans, mosquito nets, and cleaning tablets to prevent the spread of water-borne diseases. Another form of assistance will be the provision of emergency shelters for people who have been forced to leave their homes. Part of the donation will also go towards purchasing solar panels with the ability to charge mobile phones. As CESVI is already operating in the area and providing systematic humanitarian assistance to more than 4,000 families, it will be able to immediately expand its humanitarian intervention to another 1,500 families thanks to our support.
"The assistance is taking place in several phases. First, the most important thing is to provide shelter and food, and the next phase is to help people return to normal life," adds Tomáš Kocian.
CESVI is an Italian humanitarian organisation founded in Bergamo in 1985. Together with People in Need, it is a member of Alliance 2015. CESVI works worldwide to support the most vulnerable people in promoting human rights and working towards the Sustainable Development Goals. CESVI has been working in Pakistan since 2005 and is dedicated to preparing the population for natural disasters. Over the years, more than 2.5 million people have received this training. Since last year, CESVI has been intervening in Sindh province, which was the worst affected by the floods; here, it helps local communities and authorities to improve their capacity to respond to the disaster.
