Pakistan: Food parcels for children and women

 

Pakistan has experienced the worst flooding in its history. Even weeks after the torrential floods, almost a third of the country remains underwater. More than 1,400 people have lost their lives, and entire regions have been devastated. 33 million people, including 11 million children, have been affected. Many families have lost their homes and livelihoods, and vital infrastructure has been destroyed. More than 800,000 farm animals have perished.

 

Immediately after the disaster terre des hommes together with its partner organizations, initiated initial relief efforts. In the particularly hard-hit province of Singh, food parcels have been distributed to more than 1,500 households affected by the floods in recent weeks. The aid is primarily aimed at single mothers with children and families who have lost their homes and are now without shelter. The relief efforts are being implemented on the ground by the local partner organization, Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum.

"The flood is an unprecedented climate catastrophe."

The floods have struck a country already severely impacted by climate change and struggling to feed its rapidly growing population. Year after year, less snow falls in the Himalayas, the snow that flows downstream into the valleys in spring, water farmers rely on to irrigate their fields. The monsoon, normally a blessing for the arid land, is becoming increasingly rare, and when it does arrive, it brings torrential downpours. In spring, the country was hit by an extreme heat wave, the latest in a series of consecutive years of drought. Then the monsoon arrived with unprecedented rainfall, which UN Secretary-General António Guterres described as an "unprecedented climate catastrophe." Crop losses from the drought in the first half of the year were immense. The floods have destroyed much of what remained.

Aid packages for the worst affected families

“Hundreds of hectares of land are flooded, and the water isn’t receding quickly enough,” says Salam Dharejo, who coordinates terre des hommes projects in Pakistan. And the situation is worsening: illnesses caused by contaminated water are on the rise, and many children are already malnourished. Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum is working with volunteers who are organizing the distribution of aid packages containing rice, flour, cooking oil, and baby formula in the communities. Families are also receiving mosquito nets to reduce the risk of malaria. “Right now,” says Salam Dharejo, “people have little choice but to wait for the water to recede.”.

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